Top Amazon Executive Jeff Blackburn to Leave Company -- Update
February 23 2021 - 6:32PM
Dow Jones News
By Sebastian Herrera
Jeff Blackburn, a top Amazon.com Inc. executive and close aide
to Chief Executive Jeff Bezos, is leaving the company after taking
a yearlong sabbatical.
Mr. Blackburn announced his departure in a memo to the company
Tuesday reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. He said he isn't
retiring and would soon share what he will be doing next.
"I hope that, on the margin, I pushed [the senior executive]
team and Amazon to be even more bold, see around corners, think
big," Mr. Blackburn wrote. "What an amazing 22 years it has been
together -- I will cherish it, forever."
Mr. Blackburn's departure comes after a wave of leadership
changes at the online commerce giant. Mr. Bezos said earlier this
month he would step down as CEO to become executive chairman after
heading the company for more than 26 years. Jeff Wilke, a longtime
executive and CEO of Amazon's consumer-facing businesses, is
retiring from the company on Monday.
Mr. Blackburn and Mr. Wilke were once seen as potential
successors to Mr. Bezos. Andy Jassy, who has long headed Amazon's
booming cloud-computing business, is succeeding Mr. Bezos. He is
set to start as CEO in the third quarter.
Other recent departures have included Steve Kessel, who led
Amazon's physical store efforts, and Maria Renz, another longtime
executive who was vice president of delivery experience and once
served as Mr. Bezos' technical adviser.
The Wall Street Journal reported in July 2019 that Mr. Blackburn
intended to take a sabbatical for all of 2020, with plans to return
to the company this year. He decided to take the leave after having
put in many years at the company, Amazon said at the time.
Before his leave, he headed Amazon's entertainment,
business-development and advertising businesses, which include
Amazon studios, Prime Video and music, as well as mergers and
acquisitions and advertising.
As a member of the so-called "S-team" of top company executives,
Mr. Blackburn served as one of Mr. Bezos' closest advisers. He
joined in 1998, four years after Amazon was founded, to work on
product development and operations. At Amazon, he is credited with
spurring innovation and was a key player in the launch and rise of
Amazon's fast-growing advertising business. Amazon's sales in the
segment that includes advertising revenue rose 66% in its fourth
quarter from the previous year to roughly $8 billion.
Amazon's top executive team still remains and includes many
veterans. Dave Clark, who joined the company around the same time
as Mr. Wilke, succeeded Mr. Wilke as consumer chief.
"Thank you for more than two decades of leadership," Mr. Bezos
wrote Tuesday in response to Mr. Blackburn's memo. "Though it's not
quite ready to be shared, jblack has kept me in the loop on his
next chapter, and I can assure you it's a very exciting one! I
predict that Jeff will be every bit as amazing in his new role as
he's been in all his roles at Amazon."
GeekWire earlier reported Mr. Blackburn's departure.
Write to Sebastian Herrera at Sebastian.Herrera@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 23, 2021 18:17 ET (23:17 GMT)
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