Jeff Bezos Passing Amazon CEO Torch to New Exec, Still Chief on Board

Jeff Bezos is letting go of the Amazon reins, day-to-day at least, and while he’s not vanishing altogether from the office, it’s clear his focus elsewhere.

Bezos’ departure as CEO was announced Tuesday during an earnings call, and it was revealed AWS CEO Andy Jassy would take over as the main man of the e-comm behemoth sometime in the third quarter of 2021.

As for why he’s stepping down … Bezos wrote a letter to employees, saying running Amazon at large is exhausting and all-encompassing — and he’s got other projects he wants to go all in on. He’ll still have a hand on the wheel though as executive chair of Amazon’s board going forward.

JB added in his letter, “As Exec Chair I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions. I’ve never had more energy, and this isn’t about retiring. I’m super passionate about the impact I think these organizations can have.”

For reference, the Day 1 Fund is JB’s homelessness project; the Earth Fund is his climate change initiative and Blue Origin is his aerospace company. So yeah, dude’s still got a lot on his plate.

As for how this’ll affect the company’s projected growth, the numbers seem to show stakeholders have faith. Amazon shares were trading higher in after hours Tuesday. That shows how solid Amazon is — Bezos has been in the captain’s chair since ’94.

Unclear if Jeff’s stock options with the company will be affected — which could change his wealthiest man on the planet status. He and Elon Musk have been swapping the 1 and 2 spots all year.