Jeff Bezos’ last day as Amazon CEO will be July 5th – here’s why that date is important

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Jeff Bezos has decided to officially step down as Amazon’s CEO. Bezos confirmed that he’d be officially stepping down in his last meeting with shareholders. Business Insider reports that he will be stepping down on July 5, exactly 27 years after Amazon became incorporated.

In 1994, Jeff Bezos was just a baby dragon hatchling who had no idea of the mountain of wealth he would eventually conquer. Now, 27 years later, Bezos has become the mightiest dragon of them all, giving even Smaug a run for his money from atop his massive mountain of gold. He’s built a pretty impressive legacy, but it’s not stopping here.

Bezos won’t be leaving Amazon altogether. Instead, he will be moving to the role of executive chair. In this role, Bezos will be able to shift his focus slightly. He told shareholders, “I’m very excited to move into the chair role where I will focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives.”

Andy Jassy will be taking over as CEO. Jassy is the current head of Amazon’s cloud computing division, called Amazon Web Services. Jassy received high praise from Bezos, who said, “He has the highest of high standards and I guarantee that Andy will never let the universe make us typical. He has the energy needed to keep alive in us what has made us special.”

This marks a big step in Amazon’s life. Bezos has been CEO of Amazon since the beginning, so this move must feel pretty big within the company. Though he will no longer be CEO, I feel strongly that Bezos will continue to be in the room when big decisions are being made.

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