Andy Jassy Succeeds Jeff Bezos as Amazon CEO: Who is He?

In 1997, Jassy had joined Amazon in Seattle as a marketing employee.

Amazon's web services chief Andy Jassy will take over as the company's chief executive officer on Monday, 5 July.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Amazon's web services chief Andy Jassy will take over as the company's chief executive officer on Monday, 5 July after Bezos announced that he would step down as the CEO of the firm in February.

This comes as Bezos boards Blue Origin's – the rocket company he founded – first human spaceflight this month.

However, the Amazon CEO will take up the role of executive chairman of the technology firm and continue to deal with it's new projects.

Jassy, who is a long-trusted associate of Bezos, will overlook the inventions at the technology firm and head Amazon's response to possible regulations on big tech – as administrations around the world probe whether they have acquired too much power.

Who is Andy Jassy?

The 53-year-old spent his childhood in Scarsdale, an affluent New York suburb, and went on to pursue government studies at Harvard.

After getting his degree, Jassy moved to New York with the hopes of becoming a sportscaster and had stints at ABC sports and Fox, but left soon to pursue a degree at Harvard Business School.

In 1997, over a week after giving his final exam, he joined Amazon in Seattle as a marketing employee.

Passionate about music and the firm's entry into the music business, Jassy joined the music department soon after, and by 2003, was working on an outline for the company's web services, Bloomberg reported.

The 53-year-old also champions the ethos of Amazon of putting customers first, moving fast and being economical. According to the report, Jassy mirrors Bezos's competitiveness and skepticism for conventional wisdom.

However, unlike Bezos, the Amazon web services head has previously shed light on issues that plague American society – by supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and acknowledging the tragedies amid the pandemic.

Andy's ascension also comes days after Amazon revised its leadership principles, directing managers to lead with empathy and consider employee and societal welfare when making decisions, Bloomberg reported.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)