This is Kristin O'Brien managing editor at NFX, and this is the founder list. Audible versions of essays from technology's most important leaders selected by the founder community. Amazon's Jeff Bezos announced in February that he was stepping down as CEO of the e commerce giant later this year. Bezos said he would transition to executive chair of the company's board of directors and will focus on new products and early initiatives. Red by NFX. Fellow Amazonians.
I'm excited to announce that this q 3, I'll transition to executive chair of the Amazon board and Andy Jassy will become CEO. In the exec chair role, I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives. Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long as I have. He will be an outstanding leader and he has my full confidence. This journey began some 27 years ago. Amazon was only an idea, and it had no James.
The question I was asked most frequently at that time was what's the internet? Blessedly, I haven't had to explain that in a long while. Today, we employ 1,300,000 talented, dedicated people, serve 100 of millions of customers and businesses, and are widely recognized as one of the most successful companies in the world. How did that happen? Invention. Invention is the root of our success. We've done crazy things together and then made them normal.
We pioneered customer reviews, one click, personalized recommendations, primes insanely fast shipping, just walk out shopping, the climate pledge, Kindle, Alexa, marketplace, infrastructure cloud computing, career choice, and much, much more. If you get it right, A few years after a surprising invention, the new thing has become normal. People yawn, and that yawn is the greatest complement an inventor can receive.
I don't know of another company with an invention track record as good as Amazon's, and I believe we are at our most inventive right now. I hope you are as proud of our inventiveness as I am. I think you should be. As Amazon became large, we decided to use our scale and scope to lead on important social issues. 2 high impact examples, our $15 minimum wage and the climate pledge. In both cases, we staked out leadership positions and then asked others to come along with us.
In both cases, it's working. Other large companies are coming our way. I hope you're proud of that as well. I find my work meaningful and fun. I get to work with the smartest, most talented, most ingenious teammates. When times have been good, you've been humble. When times have been tough, you've been strong and supportive, and we've made each other laugh. It is a joy to work on this team. When you have a responsibility like that, it's hard to put attention on anything else.
As exec chair, I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also had the time and energy I need to focus on the day one fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, the Washington Post, and my other passions. I have never had more energy, and this isn't about retiring. I'm super passionate about the impact I think these organizations can have. Amazon couldn't be better positioned for the future. We are firing on all cylinders just as the world needs us to.
We have things in the pipeline that will continue to astonish. We serve individuals and enterprises, and we've pioneered 2 complete industries and a whole new class of devices. We are leaders in areas as varied as machine learning and logistics. And if an Amazonian's idea requires yet another new institutional skill, we're flexible enough and patient enough to learn it. Keep inventing. And don't despair when at first the idea looks crazy. Remember to wander, let curiosity be your compass.
It remains day 1. Jeff, For more audio essays from the people who've built companies like Instacart, Facebook, Trello, HubSpot, and Dropbox, visit the founder list at nfx.com Omri subscribe to the nfx podcast at podcast.nfx.com Omri wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Kristen O'Brien, and this is the founder list.