Tuesday February 2, Jeff Bezos, the emblematic boss of Amazon, took advantage of the presentation of the results of the American distribution giant to announce his intention to take a step back from the company he has led since his creation, 27 years ago. It is Andy Jassy, current boss of Amazon Web Services (AWS) – one of the group’s most lucrative activities – who takes over the reins of Amazon this July 5, 2021, exactly 27 years after the creation of Amazon . Jeff Bezos will remain executive chairman, and has already declared that he wants to invest in many other projects, particularly philanthropic ones.
Andy Jassy’s journey within Amazon
Andy Jassy is 53 years old and originally from New York. He has one of the most brilliant university studies. A graduate with honors from Havard Business School, Andy Jassy joined Amazon in 1997 as a marketing manager. According to a podcast by Reuters, he said he took his final exam on a Friday in May 1997 and started working at Amazon the following Monday.
He has spent his entire career within the company which he joined just after graduating. The same year, he married Elena Rochelle Caplan, a fashion designer. He founded AWS in 2003, with around fifty people to start the project. Thirteen years later, in 2016, he was promoted to CEO of AWS after having previously held the position of Senior Vice-President of the entity.
On the other hand, it is important to note that, if Jeff Bezos’ fortune amounts to $203 billion, Andy Jassy’s fortune is around $500 million in July 2021.
Andy Jassy is Jeff Bezos’ confidant and is known as his right-hand man. He has always assisted him in major strategic decision-making at Amazon and supported him for many years. Jeff Bezos announces: “ Andy is well known within the company and has been with Amazon almost as long as I have. He will be an exceptional leader and he has my complete confidence. »
Note also that the idea of launching a cloud computing goes to Andy Jassy and Jeff Bezos. In 2003, Amazon Web Service was led by Andy Jassy. This division of the company now has a market share of around 34% and dominates the cloud hosting segment, far ahead of Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. This service remains the company’s most profitable and represents two thirds of the group’s net income. He is therefore considered the cash cow of the group.
Andy Jassy succeeds Jeff Bezos as CEO of Amazon
Andy Jassy has been one of the major architects of Amazon’s success since the early 2000s. He has contributed to the development of Amazon Web Services, Inc. since its creation in 2003. Andy Jassy has since become the CEO of AWS, one of the firm’s most profitable businesses. In one year, the profit generated by AWS increased by more than 2.7 billion dollars to reach 12.7 billion.
Today, boosted by the health situation which has increased the use of digital technology tenfold across the world, this service cloud computing represents a tenth of the American giant’s revenues. There is no doubt that these excellent results contributed to making Andy Jessy the right man in the eyes of Jeff Bezos for his own succession and to become CEO of Amazon.
Andy Jassy should also lead the development of Amazon Prime, the video-on-demand service created in 2016 and which faces fierce competition, both in its domestic market and internationally. The stakes are all the more important for Amazon since the company spent a billion dollars to produce a Lord of the Rings series, one of the most expensive series in the world. Amazon has also invested heavily in the sports market. The American giant has become the broadcaster of Ligue 1 in France, the Premier League in England and night sessions of Roland Garros this year.
The challenges of Andy Jassy, once CEO of Amazon
According to some observers, the appointment of Andy Jassy demonstrates the extent to which AWS has taken a prominent place in Amazon’s strategy. At present, Andy Jassy’s successor as CEO of AWS is not yet known.
This announcement comes during a prosperous period for the American firm which can boast of quite exceptional results in 2020. Indeed, 27 years after the creation by Jeff Bezos of an online book sales site, Amazon exceeds $100 billion in net sales over a quarter for the first time. The firm recorded a turnover of $125.56 billion in Q4 2020, which is higher than analysts’ forecasts.
Despite results slightly lower than expected, AWS posted a turnover of $12.7 billion over the same period. The entity headed by Andy Jassy had signed lucrative contracts with Viacom and BMW at the end of last year.
However, Amazon has not escaped criticism over its management of the health crisis, which has undeniably benefited most of the company’s activities. It is up to the future new boss of Amazon to consolidate these brilliant economic results without damaging the image of the company, so often vilified.
Under fire from critics, Amazon is the subject of an investigation opened by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). The entity has just ordered Amazon to pay a $62 million fine for withholding tips from delivery people. The FTC is looking at the Big Tech behemoths (Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google).
If, for the moment, only Facebook and Google will be judged, American justice is seriously looking into the cases of the other GAFA, for which she claims to have collected more than a million documents. Furthermore, the state of Connecticut has just opened an investigation into Amazon’s practices regarding e-books. According to information from the New York Timesthe states of Washington and California have also opened an investigation into the activities of marketplace from Amazon.
Other strong news for the group, Bloomberg has just published a survey in which the media reveals that Amazon leaves it to its artificial intelligence to fire inefficient delivery people. The timing therefore seems perfect for Jeff Bezos who leaves the reins of CEO to Andy Jassy who will have a lot to do.
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A handover effective this July 5, 2021
Andy Jassy took over the e-commerce giant this Monday, July 5, as announced on May 26 by the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, who still remains the chairman of the executive committee. “It’s a sentimental date for me, it’s the date Amazon was officially incorporated as a company, 27 years ago”Jeff Bezos emphasized to shareholders.
Jeff Bezos, who served as CEO of Amazon since the company’s founding exactly 27 years ago on July 5, 1994, has officially stepped down. Andy Jassy now serves as CEO after leading Amazon Web Services since 2003.
This is an important moment for Amazon, which has had the same CEO for its entire existence. Under the leadership of Jeff Bezos, the company survived the bursting of the dotcom bubble in the late 1990s to become one of the most valuable technology companies in the world. Amazon currently dominates online commerce in the United States and parts of Europe.
Jeff Bezos’ successor, Andy Jassy, joined the company shortly after graduating from Harvard Business School in 1997 and has led AWS since the team’s inception in 2003. He was officially named CEO of the division in 2016. By the end of 2020, AWS controlled about a third of the total market for cloud computingaccording to Synergy Research, about as much as its competitors Microsoft and Google, combined.
“With Jassy, Bezos has anointed a disciplined leader whom he has meticulously trained in his unusual way of managing, who has performed well in the spotlight, and who presents a somewhat humbler target for naysayers Amazon Policies » says Brad Stone, author of Amazon Unbound.
What about Jeff Bezos?
Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world according to Bloomberg, is not about to sink into oblivion. He remains executive chairman of Amazon, where he said he “will remain engaged in important Amazon initiatives” and also stressed that he planned to devote more time and energy to other projects such as foundations Day One Fund And Bezos Earth Fundas well as his diary Washington Post and its space company Blue Origin.
In the immediate future, Jeff Bezos will fly into space aboard a rocket built by Blue Origin on July 20. Ex-Amazon CEO will be joined by his brother, Mark Bezos, aboard the ship’s first crewed mission New Shepard. But he should be beaten by his rival, Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galacticwho should be on board the plane Spatial VSS Unity for a test flight scheduled for July 11.
Andy Jassy’s debut as Amazon CEO
Nearly two years after the appointment of Andy Jassy as CEO of Amazon, in place of Jeff Bezos, what conclusions can we draw? What we can say is that he differs from his predecessor, particularly through his contact with the political world. Much criticized, Amazon has ended its cold war with Washington, an intelligent decision which allows us to better understand the company’s business or the major decisions taken by management.
However, Andy Jassy recently had to present a vast plan to lay off 9,000 employees. Announcements of this type were numerous for Amazon, which had recruited a lot during confinement, e-commerce having exploded at a time when half the planet was locked down. In total, Amazon laid off 18,000 employees. The move also comes in an era of cost optimization. The CEO of Amazon has in fact expressed his desire to review the firm’s logistics operations.
