Closing his 27-year journey of leading Amazon as CEO, Jeff Bezos sent an emotional letter to his employees

The Amazon founder has just announced he will leave his position as CEO in the third quarter of this year and become Chairman. With this announcement, Jeff Bezos sent out a letter to all employees.

Below is the text of the letter:

To all Amazonians,

I am delighted to announce that I will no longer be Amazon CEO in the third quarter of this year and that this position is given to Andy Jassy. As President, I will focus all my energy and attention on new products and initiatives. Andy knows the company very well and has spent a long time at Amazon just like me. He will be a great leader and I have absolute confidence in him.

This journey started 27 years ago. Amazon is just an idea and it doesn’t even have a name. The question I ask most of the time is: What is the Internet? Fortunately I was able to explain that answer soon.

Currently, our company has 1.3 million talents, who are dedicated to serving hundreds of millions of customers and businesses. We are considered one of the most successful companies in the world.

Achieving such results is all through innovation. Innovation is at the root of Amazon’s success. We did crazy things together and made it normal. We pioneered customer reviews, 1-Click initiatives, Prime ultra-fast delivery systems, Just Walk Out shopping, Climate Pledge, Kindle, Alexa, cloud infrastructure , Career Choice, and more. If done right, a few years after a surprising invention, the new thing becomes normal. People will be amazed and that is the biggest compliment an inventor can receive.

I haven’t seen a company with such innovative records as Amazon, and I believe we are at our most innovative time ever. I hope you are proud of the innovative spirit of the company as I do. I believe so.

When Amazon got big enough, we decided to use our size and scope to solve important social problems. The two best examples are: Minimum Wage 15 USD and Commitment to Combat Climate Change. In both cases, we both took the lead and then asked other companies to join hands. Both problems are being properly resolved. Other big companies are doing the same. I hope you will be proud of that too.

I always feel fun and meaningful in what I do. I work with the brightest, brightest and brightest teams. In good times, you are humble, in times of trouble, you become strong and help as much as you can, and then we all laugh together. It is the joy of the work we do together.

I am very excited about this transfer of the CEO position. Millions of customers are using our services and more than 1 million employees depend on us for a living. Being the CEO of Amaon is an exceptionally heavy responsibility and it governs many things. When you hold such responsibility, it can be difficult to be preoccupied with other things. So as Chairman, I will focus on major Amazon innovations and also have the time and energy needed to focus on other companies and projects like the Day 1 Fund, Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post … I have never had more energy than that and leaving the CEO position is not retirement. I am very excited about the potential impact that the company can have in the future.

We will continue to give the world amazing things. We have served individuals and businesses and pioneered two complete industries and an entirely new category of equipment. We lead in areas as diverse as machine learning and logistics. And if Amazon’s ideas require another new skill, we’re flexible enough and patient enough to learn.

Keep being creative, and don’t despair when the original idea seems crazy. Wander around and keep curious about everything. Always look at each day as well as the first.

Jeff,