Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is stepping down later this year to focus on other projects

[Andy Meek]

• Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is giving up his chief executive title later this year, the Internet retail giant announced on Tuesday, stunning everyone with the news that its longtime CEO is poised to transition out of the role to become the company's new executive chairman.
• This move will presumably free up Bezos to focus on more of his side projects outside of Amazon, such as his ownership of The Washington Post.
• Stepping into the role of CEO will be current Amazon Web Services head Andy Jassy.

Amazon stunned Wall Street on Tuesday afternoon by announcing the surprise news that founder and longtime CEO Jeff Bezos is giving up his CEO title later this year, transitioning to the role of executive chairman -- which will presumably free him up to focus on other passion projects, like his Blue Origin space company and his ownership of The Washington Post.

This transition will unfold later this year, sometime in the third quarter, according to Amazon's announcement. Amazon didn't precisely spell out what precipitated this move and why Bezos is choosing the third quarter of this year to give up his CEO title. Suffice it to say, however, this will be one of the most fascinating and consequential executive transitions to watch in tech (whenever Apple CEO Tim Cook decides to leave is another that comes to mind). Bezos founded the company, and what's all the more interesting about his decision to transition out of the CEO role now is that it comes amid a still-raging pandemic, when people have relied on services like Amazon's more than ever.

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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is stepping down later this year to focus on other projects originally appeared on BGR.com on Tue, 2 Feb 2021 at 16:30:53 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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