Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos will leave his post later this year, turning the helm over to the company’s top cloud executive, Andy Jassy, according to an announcement Tuesday. Bezos will transition to executive chairman of Amazon’s board.
In a blog post to employees, Bezos said he planned to focus on new products and early initiatives being developed at Amazon. He said he would have more time for side projects, including his space exploration company Blue Origin, his philanthropic initiatives and overseeing The Washington Post, which he owns.
He added, “I’ve never had more energy, and this isn’t about retiring.”
Since the start of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak, consumers have turned increasingly to Amazon for delivery of home staples and medical supplies. Brick-and-mortar shops closed their doors;Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, instead recruited over 400,000 more workers and posted consecutive record profits.
Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky told reporters on a conference call that costs associated with the pandemic in the first quarter are expected to total $2 billion, down from $4billion in the fourth quarter.
A former hedge fund executive, Bezos started Amazon as an online retailer for books from his Seattle garage in 1994. The business was widely credited with popularizing online shopping and dealing a blow to physical book retailers around the U.S.
A sharp and, at times, ruthless executive, Bezos transformed Amazon into one of the world’s largest companies, an everything store that sells toilet paper, Oscar-nominated movies, music subscriptions and more. Today, the company owns IMDb, Audible, Zappos and Whole Foods and has a market cap of nearly $1.7 trillion.
Revenue will be $100 billion to $106 billion in the quarter ending in March, the Seattle-based company said Tuesday in a statement. Amazon projected operating income of $3 billion to $6.5 billion. Analysts, on average, estimated profit of $6.07 billion on sales of $ 95.72 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The online retailer reported fourth-quarter sales jumped 44% to $125.6 billion, beating analysts’ average estimate of $119.7 billion. Earnings were $ 14.09 per share, compared with analyst projections of $7.34. The shares were little changed in post-market trading.
