Who is Andy Jassy, ​​Amazon’s new CEO?

The first time Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Andy Jassy met, they hit it off right away.

Jassy was newly hired at Amazon in 1997 after graduating from Harvard management when he accidentally hit Bezos in the head with a kayak paddle during a game. broomball. This is a kind of ice hockey on grass, in which participants hit a large, inflatable ball with brooms, sticks or paddles.

Always a blood fanatic at broomball sessions, Bezos fell into a hedge during the game that year and tore his blue Oxford shirt, the Amazon book describes. The Everything Store by American Bloomberg journalist Brad Stone. Playing broomball at the annual company picnic has been an Amazon tradition ever since.

And since that first meeting, Bezos and Jassy have never left each other’s side.

Andy Jassy.
Photo AFP

Out of the shadows

This Monday, almost twenty-five years after their first game of broomball, Andy Jassy (53) officially succeeds Bezos as CEO of Amazon. Jassy thus takes over the day-to-day management of the largest web store in the world and one of the largest companies in the United States. Amazon has an annual turnover of 319 billion euros and 1.3 million employees.

Bezos announced in February that he would retire from the company he founded in 1994. He steps back to devote more time to charity and running his other venture: aerospace company Blue Origin. Bezos, who puts $1 billion a year of his own money into the space venture, will travel to space on July 20 on Blue Origin’s first manned rocket flight.

Also read this article about a new Amazon book: ‘You should always be ready for a furious email from Bezos’

Jassy is seen within the company as a ‘brain double’ of Bezos. A like-minded person who has totally adopted Bezos’ corporate religion of continuous change, extreme focus on customer satisfaction and long-term investing.

Bezos promoted Jassy in 2002 to his first “technical assistant,” within Amazon, also known as “Bezos’ shadow.” It meant that Jassy followed his boss non-stop for eighteen months, listening in on all telephone conversations and always attending meetings. A method Bezos used more often to prepare people he trusts for important roles within the company.

In the years that followed, Jassy took charge of Amazon’s cloud service AWS, one of Amazon’s most successful businesses with $50 billion in annual revenue. Under Jassy, ​​AWS became the cork on which the company floats. The business accounts for two-thirds of its profits and finances Amazon’s money-consuming streaming service and expanding distribution network.

Spicy chicken wings

Jassy, ​​who has never had an employer other than Amazon, is seen as a more modest version of Bezos, who has surrounded himself with Hollywood stars in recent years and recently acquired a $500 million superyacht.

Jassy is known for not wanting to use a private plane because it makes him feel ‘uncomfortable’ – a quirk in the world of top American executives. Once a year, he invites a group of Amazon employees to his home for a basketball game and a spicy chicken wings eating contest. The Wall Street Journal in a profile.

Despite the characterological differences with Bezos, Amazon is putting a leader at the helm with Andy Jassy who “will not radically change course,” said journalist and Amazon expert Brad Stone. “Jassy is a Bezos disciple. He will be the face of the public and speak in Congressional hearings. But they don’t differ that much in terms of vision.”

Bezos, who remains the largest shareholder within Amazon, continues to make the big decisions, according to Stone: whether Amazon will become active in healthcare, how they will further expand their strategic power, and which new home robot Amazon will develop. Because, says Stone, Bezos likes to spend his time thinking about new products and business opportunities. “No matter what happens, at Amazon, Bezos will remain the most important voice in the room.”

source https://pledgetimes.com/who-is-andy-jassy-%e2%80%8b%e2%80%8bamazons-new-ceo/