The wealthiest man on the planet, Jeff Bezos, proved that he was not going to be stuck in one role forever. The CEO quit his post in one of the largest companies in the world exactly 27 years after he had founded Amazon. Under Bezos’ leadership, Amazon went through a long way of development. It took him less than 25 years to make the company’s shares soar from $18 to $3,500 per share. Of course, the billionaire will not abandon his company for good: he will become the executive chairman of Amazon’s board and will own more than 10% of the shares. Jeff Bezos has long planned to step down, and it was agreed that Andy Jassy, the current head of Amazon Web Services, will take over. “In the Exec Chair role, I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives. Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long as I have. He will be an outstanding leader, and he has my full confidence,” Bezos noted in a letter to employees. The former CEO said he would continue to supervise such important Amazon projects as the Bezos Earth Fund charity foundation, Blue Origin spaceship company, The Washington Post, and the Amazon Day 1 Fund. Jeff Bezos is planning to go into space with his brother and 82-year-old Wally Funk, an aviation pioneer that was trained to become an astronaut in the 1960s but her dream did not come true.
