Jeff Bezos is stepping down as Amazon’s CEO in the third quarter to focus more on philanthropy and managing his spaceflight company, Blue Origin.
Bezos will remain as the executive chair for Amazon’s board of directors, where he’ll focus on “new products and early initiatives.”
He indicated that serving as CEO was becoming taxing. “Being the CEO of Amazon is a deep responsibility, and it’s consuming. When you have a responsibility like that, it’s hard to put attention on anything else,” he wrote in a letter to company employees on Tuesday.
His replacement as CEO will be Andy Jassy, the current head of Amazon’s cloud computing business, AWS. “Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long as I have. He will be an outstanding leader, and he has my full confidence,” Bezos wrote.
Bezos founded Amazon in 1994 as an online bookstore. Since then, his company has become a powerhouse in e-commerce, smart homes, internet streaming, and cloud computing.
“Amazon couldn’t be better positioned for the future. We are firing on all cylinders, just as the world needs us to,” Bezos added. “ We have things in the pipeline that will continue to astonish.”
The company’s success has also turned Bezos into the world’s richest person, with Forbes estimating his net worth at $196 billion.
“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,” he wrote. “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.”