Controversial Amazon CEO Bezos Steps Down
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife
(Worthy News) – Jeff Bezos, who founded tech giant Amazon and became the world’s wealthiest person, is stepping down as its chief executive officer.
He’ll be replaced in the fall by Andy Jassy, who runs Amazon’s cloud-computing business. Bezos, 57, will then become the company’s executive chair.
“As much as I still tap dance into the office, I’m excited about this transition,” Bezos said in an internal announcement to Amazon’s 1.3 million employees.
He assured them that the move “isn’t about retiring.” Bezos said: “As Exec Chair, I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives.” He said he wanted to spend more time on side projects: his space exploration company Blue Origin; the newspaper he owns, The Washington Post; and his charities.
With many forced to stay and work at home amid coronavirus lockdowns, his company thrived with its focus on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence.
As much of the world had to shop online, Amazon recorded a total of $386 billion in sales in 2020 alone. That was a 38 percent rise in 2019 – which saw profits double to $21.3 billion, according to official figures.
TOPPING WORLD
Worth a staggering $196.2 billion himself, Bezos remains the world’s richest person, although he was briefly topped earlier this month by entrepreneur Elon Musk. “I’ve never had more energy, and this isn’t about retiring,” Bezos stressed.
Bezos founded Amazon in 1994 in a garage as an online bookshop and transformed his company over the years into a $1.6 trillion business.
Amazon was a pioneer of fast and free shipping that won over millions of shoppers who used the site to buy diapers, TVs, and just about anything.
Under Bezos, Amazon also launched the first e-reader that gained mass acceptance, and its Echo listening device made voice assistants a more common sight in many living rooms.
But critics say his growing empire threatens smaller retailers and other businesses as companies are forced to adapt or close.
INTERNATIONAL PROBE
U.S. and European antitrust watchdogs investigate Amazon’s treatment of third-party sellers, alleging the company engages in anti-competitive conduct.
And Bezos was recently criticized by conservatives over his decision to ban Parler – the right-of-center social media platform from Amazon’s web hosting service.
The move underscored mounting concerns about the growing influence of a handful of Big Tech companies over the content.
Amazon defended silencing Parler, citing 98 posts “that encourage and incite violence” and that the platform “poses a very real risk to public safety.”
“We’ve seen a steady increase in this violent content on your website, all of which violates our terms,” Amazon added.
Parler CEO John Matze said in response that bans by Amazon and other firms were “a coordinated attack by the tech giants to kill competition in the marketplace.”
LOSING FOUNDER
Amazon was one of the last of the biggest tech giants to have a founder as CEO.
Google’s co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin gave up their executive positions in parent company Alphabet in 2019.
And, Oracle’s Larry Ellison stepped down as CEO in 2014.
Bill Gates was Microsoft’s CEO until 2000, kept a day-to-day role at the company until 2008, and served as its chairman until 2014. Gates left the board entirely last year to focus on philanthropy, including a special focus on vaccinations.
Apple’s famed co-founder Steve Jobs passed away in 2011 at the age of 56.
If you are interested in articles produced by Worthy News, please check out our FREE sydication service available to churches or online Christian ministries. To find out more, visit Worthy Plugins.