Jeff Bezos will step down as Amazon CEO on July 5, a 'sentimental' date that he picked because it was when the company was incorporated, in 1994

Jeff Bezos will officially leave his job as Amazon CEO on July 5, he told shareholders on Wednesday.
Bezos said the date was "sentimental" because it was when Amazon was incorporated in 1994.
Bezos said in his new role as executive chair he would focus on "new products and early initiatives."
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In his last shareholders meeting as Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos announced he would officially step down from the role on July 5.

"We chose that date because it's sentimental for me, the day Amazon was incorporated in 1994, exactly 27 years ago." Bezos said.

Bezos announced in February that he would be leaving his post as CEO of Amazon in the third quarter of the year.

Taking over from Bezos is Andy Jassy, the head of Amazon's cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services (AWS). Jassy has been at the company for 24 years.

Jassy "is going to be an outstanding leader and he has my full confidence," Bezos said.

"He has the highest of high standards and I guarantee that Andy will never let the universe make us typical," Bezos added. "He has the energy needed to keep alive in us what has made us special."

Bezos is not leaving Amazon altogether - instead he will become executive chair to the company.

"I'm very excited to move into the chair role where I will focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives," Bezos said.

Amazon said in February that as executive chair, Bezos' involvement in the company's operations will consist of "one-way door" decisions. Amazon's Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky characterized these as big decisions such as acquisitions and overarching business strategies.

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