Jeff Bezos To Step Down As Amazon CEO

Cuban-American tycoon and, depending on the latest stock prices, the first or second richest person in the world, Jeff Bezos has announced that he will be stepping down as Chief Executive Officer of the company he founded – Amazon. The company sent out a press release with the following message from Bezos:

“Amazon is what it is because of invention. We do crazy things together and then make them normal. We pioneered customer reviews, 1-Click, personalized recommendations, Prime’s insanely-fast shipping, Just Walk Out shopping, the Climate Pledge, Kindle, Alexa, marketplace, infrastructure cloud computing, Career Choice, and much more,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. “If you do it right, a few years after a surprising invention, the new thing has become normal. People yawn. That yawn is the greatest compliment an inventor can receive. When you look at our financial results, what you’re actually seeing 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 also sent a letter to his employees announcing the transition. “In the Exec Chair role, I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives,” he wrote.