Andy Jassy did not instantly settle for Jeff Bezos’ Amazon CEO supply

Operating one of many world’s greatest firms — and incomes tens of millions per 12 months whereas doing so — feels like a no brainer for most individuals.

However when Amazon founder Jeff Bezos requested Andy Jassy to take over as CEO final 12 months, Jassy did not instantly say “sure.”

On Wednesday, Jassy defined why he wanted time to suppose earlier than accepting the job, regardless of having a long time of expertise on the firm — loads of time to review the character of the function. Earlier than turning into Amazon’s CEO, Jassy ran the corporate’s Amazon Net Companies division, and had no plans to vary his profession path.

“I have been at Amazon for 25 years,” Jassy, 54, stated at The New York Occasions’ 2022 DealBook Summit. “I wasn’t actually seeking to do one thing completely different. And I additionally actually did not suppose that Jeff was ever going to do one thing completely different within the time that I labored there.”

So, as an alternative of instantly taking the lauded place, Jassy requested Bezos if he may go dwelling and discuss it together with his spouse. That evening, Jassy and his spouse determined collectively that he ought to settle for the supply.

Amazon introduced the deliberate change in February 2021, simply after the corporate reported its first over $100 billion quarter. Jassy formally began as CEO 5 months later, in July.

When Bezos, who continues to be the corporate chairman, introduced he was stepping again from Amazon, many individuals each inside and outdoors the corporate had been stunned — together with Jassy.

However Jassy was well-positioned to take over, years after initially becoming a member of Amazon as a advertising supervisor in 1997. He and Bezos labored carefully collectively to launch Amazon Net Companies in 2006, which Jassy went on to guide for the following 15 years.

Since Jassy took Amazon’s helm final 12 months, the corporate’s inventory has fluctuated between report highs and steep declines. The corporate additionally started closing some warehouses and shedding tens of hundreds of workers.

However these swings may be out of Jassy’s management. In 2020, Covid-19 lockdowns fueled on-line procuring, a boon for the e-commerce big. Now, recessionary fears are prompting tech firms throughout the nation to batten down the hatches.

Amazon’s layoffs are anticipated to succeed in roughly 10,000 jobs earlier than they’re over. Jassy stated the cost-cutting measures had been crucial, as the corporate realized the economic system was “extra unsure” than they initially thought.

“We had been seeing issues that had been completely different from what we have seen earlier than, and we simply felt like we wanted to streamline our prices,” Jassy stated. “As we went by the plans, we realized we wanted to be extra slim on a few of our sources.”

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