After having run the Amazon Web Services (AWS), Andy Jassy took  over as the new Chief Executive Officer of Amazon on Monday, 5th July. It was announced that Jeff Bezos will retire from being the CEO in February. Jassy joined as a marketing employee in the year 1997.

Jassy is now entered as the President and CEO of Amazon.com on the investor’s website and he is also on the Board of Directors.

Jassy spent his childhood in Scarsdale, New York. He earned a degree in Government at Harvard and it must be noted that his father is also a Harvard graduate. He hoped to become a sportscaster and tried his luck at ABC Sports and Fox only to leave and attend Harvard business school. He soon joined Amazon as a marketing employee and drafted out a plan to enter the music business. This is no surprise as it’s said that Jassy is an obsessive music fan.  

When asked about Jassy and his approach, many Amazonians recall stories where Jassy made sure to connect with them on a personal level and includes indie-movies, music, sports in his conversations. Also he believes in constructive criticism and strictly avoids personal attacks at all costs. Jassy is known for his easy-going and unassuming nature among his colleagues and subordinates.

Jassy is also very competitive and disregards conventional wisdom much like the now-former CEO, Bezoz. He goes hard by Amazon’s corporate religion – put customers first, move fast, and be frugal, the Bloomberg report added.

Under the supervision of Jeff Bezos, the Amazon’s share price witnessed a tremendous rise but also his leadership style, labour practices have been subject to strong criticism. Also in the years 2007 and 2011, Bezos paid no federal income tax according to the ProPublica investigation.

Jassy stood in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement and has also recognized the hardships faced by the people during the pandemic showing concern over matters that are beyond Amazon.

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.

Andy Jassy has a net worth of close to $500 million, as per the  Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Jassy has quite a few challenges ahead of him. A District of Columbia antitrust lawsuit claims that the company has increased prices on customers. Meanwhile in Europe, Amazon is accused of misusing the marketplace data and a lawsuit has been directed at it for the same.  

Bezos is not quite ready to depart from the company as he will be taking the role of the company’s executive and aims to be engaged in future Amazon projects. He has also said that he wants to focus more on inventions and that’s why he is stepping down. Being the founder of aerospace company Blue Origin, Bezos is all set to fly to the edge of space on 20th July. Blue origin aims to achieve lower cost and safer space flights. He will board the rocket New Shepard, built by his company and it is said that he will be joined by his brother, Mark Bezoz.  

(Includes inputs from Bloomberg)