Bezos to give up reins at Amazon

Jeff Bezos, the founder and chief executive of e-commerce colossus Amazon, said on Tuesday that he will step down from his day-to-day leadership role in a surprise move to become the tech giant's chairman.

The announcement came as Amazon reported record fourth-quarter sales that topped $100 billion for the first time. Bezos' move will take effect in the third quarter of this year.

Andy Jassy, who has worked for Amazon since 1997, will take over as CEO. He currently serves as chief executive of the company's cloud business, Amazon Web Services, its biggest profit-driver.

And while the COVID-19 pandemic has driven many companies to tell their employees that they will work from home indefinitely, Seattle-based Amazon also unveiled plans on Tuesday for the second phase of its second headquarters in Arlington County, Virginia.

In a memo to employees, Bezos said the transition will give him "the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post and my other passions".

The $10 billion Bezos Earth Fund is among the tycoon's philanthropic efforts, along with Amazon's $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund.

Bezos, 57, the world's second-richest person after Tesla founder Elon Musk, according to Forbes, bought The Washington Post for $250 million in 2013. Bezos recently has focused on the development of Blue Origin, an aerospace company that is developing rockets for commercial use.

Alarm bells

The announcement set off alarm bells on Wall Street and throughout the business community. But Bezos said he will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives and has full confidence in the next leader.

Amazon reported a year of record growth on Tuesday, including a 38 percent increase in net sales over the take in 2019, and net income of $21 billion, nearly double that of the year before, on fourth-quarter revenue of $125.56 billion.

Bezos' announcement spurred reactions from many of his fellow Big Tech chiefs, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

"Congrats @JeffBezos, best wishes for Day 1 and Earth fund," Pichai tweeted.

Nadella tweeted: "Congratulations to @JeffBezos and @ajassy on your new roles. A well-deserved recognition of what you have accomplished."

Bezos founded Amazon as an online bookseller in 1994 from his garage in Seattle. He has an 11.1 percent stake in the company.

Today, Amazon, with its market value hovering around $1.7 trillion and with 1.3 million employees, has become one of the most valuable companies in the world.

Between March and April 2020, amid the pandemic, Amazon said it hired 175,000 additional workers.

Amazon also announced plans for 260,000 square meters of office space across three 22-story buildings in Virginia, in the Washington DC metropolitan area.

Similar to the Sphere of Amazon's Seattle headquarters, the Virginia site will feature the Helix as its centerpiece.

Agencies contributed to this story.