Why Amazon CEO Andy Jassy did not in an instant say ‘sure’ when Jeff Bezos introduced him the function

Operating one of the most international’s greatest corporations — and incomes tens of millions in step with 12 months whilst doing so — feels like a no brainer for most of the people.

But if Amazon founder Jeff Bezos requested Andy Jassy to take over as CEO remaining 12 months, Jassy did not in an instant say “sure.”

On Wednesday, Jassy defined why he wanted time to assume earlier than accepting the task, in spite of having a long time of revel in on the corporate — quite a few time to review the character of the function. Prior to changing into Amazon’s CEO, Jassy ran the corporate’s Amazon Internet Products and services department, and had no plans to modify his occupation trail.

“I have been at Amazon for 25 years,” Jassy, 54, stated at The New York Instances’ 2022 DealBook Summit. “I wasn’t truly having a look to do one thing other. And I additionally truly did not assume that Jeff used to be ever going to do one thing other within the time that I labored there.”

So, as a substitute of in an instant taking the lauded place, Jassy requested Bezos if he may just pass house and discuss it together with his spouse. That evening, Jassy and his spouse determined in combination that he must settle for the be offering.

Amazon introduced the deliberate trade in February 2021, simply after the corporate reported its first over $100 billion quarter. Jassy formally began as CEO 5 months later, in July.

When Bezos, who remains to be the corporate chairman, introduced he used to be stepping again from Amazon, many of us each outside and inside the corporate have been stunned — together with Jassy.

However Jassy used to be well-positioned to take over, years after to begin with becoming a member of Amazon as a advertising and marketing supervisor in 1997. He and Bezos labored intently in combination to release Amazon Internet Products and services in 2006, which Jassy went on to steer for the following 15 years.

Since Jassy took Amazon’s helm remaining 12 months, the corporate’s inventory has fluctuated between file highs and steep declines. The corporate additionally started last some warehouses and shedding tens of hundreds of staff.

However the ones swings could be out of Jassy’s regulate. In 2020, Covid-19 lockdowns fueled on-line buying groceries, a boon for the e-commerce massive. Now, recessionary fears are prompting tech corporations around the nation to batten down the hatches.

Amazon’s layoffs are anticipated to achieve kind of 10,000 jobs earlier than they are over. Jassy stated the cost-cutting measures have been important, as the corporate discovered the economic system used to be “extra unsure” than they firstly idea.

“We have been seeing issues that have been other from what we have observed earlier than, and we simply felt like we had to streamline our prices,” Jassy stated. “As we went in the course of the plans, we discovered we had to be extra narrow on a few of our sources.”

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