Jeff Bezos steps down from role as Amazon CEO today

Jeff Bezos announced earlier this year his plan to step down from his role as Amazon CEO. On Monday, July 5, he is officially departing that role.

Andy Jassy, the CEO of Amazon Web Services, succeeds Bezos and takes over the reins of a company that's worth $1.8 trillion, as per MacroTrends. The transition marks an end to Bezos' 27 years of leadership that saw the retail giant become one of the world's most valuable public companies. In 2018, Amazon became the world's third-largest company by market valuation, surpassing Microsoft.

Even upon his departure, Bezos remains the world's richest person. Forbes Magazine estimated his net worth to be nearly $202 billion, an increase of $196 billion since 1998. That said, he had his share of criticisms in recent history regarding his tax. ProPublica claimed last month that Bezos did not pay his tax in 2007 and 2011.

Bezos transitions to his new role as Amazon’s executive chairman. After July 5, however, he will have reduced involvement in the company as he shifts his focus toward his charities and his commercial space company, Blue Origin, among others. On July 20, Bezos is set to fly aboard the first crewed mission of New Shepard, where he will be joined by his younger brother Mark.

Source: BBC