SEATTLE – Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will give up his title as CEO of the Seattle-based commerce giant by the end of 2021, the company announced Tuesday in a news release reporting fourth-quarter earnings results.
Bezos will transition to the role of executive chair. He will be replaced as CEO by Amazon Web Services director Andy Jassy.
Bezos had distanced himself from much of Amazon’s day-to-day business in recent years. But he stepped back into the helm during the pandemic, during which Amazon recorded its most profitable year ever. In 2020, sales surged 38% to $386.1 billion while profit roughly doubled to $21.3 billion from a year earlier.
In a statement, Bezos said that Amazon’s financial results “are the long-run cumulative results of invention.”
“Right now I see Amazon at its most inventive ever, making it an optimal time for this transition,” Bezos said.
In an email to Amazon employees, Bezos said he intended to focus on new products and early initiatives.
