Jeff Bezos founded multinational tech giant Amazon in 1994, out of his garage in Seattle. The company began as an online bookstore, primarily competing with local book retailers and Barnes & Noble. However, Amazon soon began to expand its services, offering convenience services to its customers. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Amazon’s revenues grew 38%, reaching $386 billion as people made more online purchases from home. In 2020, Amazon hired over 500,000 new staff members, bringing its total staff to more than 1.3 million.
Bezos will hand his CEO role to American businessman Andy Jassy. Jassy built and ran Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the company’s dominant cloud-computing business.
Although Bezos is stepping down as Amazon CEO, he has made it clear that he’s not yet ready for retirement. Instead, he will focus on his other businesses, including aerospace company Blue Origin and The Washington Post, which he purchased for $250 million back in 2013. Bezos will also take on the role of executive chairman of Amazon’s executive board.
