Several analysts lauded the promotion of Andy Jassy, who was described as having "the DNA of managing high-growth/high-innovation businesses at scale."
Amazon boss Jeff Bezos' decision to leave his CEO role later this year caught Wall Street by surprise on Feb. 2, but several analysts sharing their thoughts on the elevation of Andy Jassy to CEO expressed confidence in the promotion.
"The timing of the departure of founder and CEO Bezos, who will become Amazon's executive chairman in the third quarter, was both a big surprise, but also a fitting ending to his incredible run as CEO, as he exits running the day-to-day operations of Amazon in record-setting fashion," Cowen analyst John Blackledge wrote in a report.
Addressing Jassy, he said: "We are encouraged by the choice and believe Jassy, a highly respected Amazon vet since '97, will be an effective leader."
Other analysts echoed that sentiment. "Jassy's The Captain Now," Evercore ISI analyst Lee Horowitz said in the title of his report. "The promotion of Andy Jassy to CEO, while earlier than we may have expected (third quarter 2021), strikes us a strong, if not predictable succession plan given Mr. Jassy’s years of experience running Amazon Web Services (AWS)."
Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter, meanwhile, argued that little would change with the handover of CEO duties. "It is not clear to us that Mr. Bezos will actually withdraw from day-to-day oversight of the business, as we expect him to continue to be integrally involved in company strategy," he wrote. "We don’t expect much to change at the company and expect the transition to Andy Jassy’s leadership to be seamless and largely inconsequential."
Indeed, in a note to employees on Feb. 2, Bezos wrote that, "In the Exec Chair role, I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives." Bezos added that he "will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions."
Scott Kessler, Global Sector Lead for Technology Media and Telecommunications at Third Bridge, noted: "Jassy is also arguably Amazon's second-most-visible employee after Bezos."
"The timing of this transition is interesting, as the world will hopefully be on the back-end of a global pandemic," Kessler wrote. "Perhaps at the same time Amazon's e-commerce business normalizes somewhat, as people return more to retail stores, the AWS segment will become increasingly important with continuing momentum around cloud transitions and digital transformations."
Pivotal Research Group's Michael Levine noted that Amazon's stock "traded relatively weaker in response to Jeff Bezos stepping down from his role as CEO," arguing that his "role change could act as an overhang."
Levine explained: "Needless to say, Bezos has widely been viewed for over two decades as founder, visionary and public face of the company. He will still be involved with important decisions as executive chairman, and will be replaced by Andrew Jassy – CEO of AWS. Although not as familiar a face to the general public as Bezos, Jassy is exceptionally well regarded by the investment community."
Nicholas McQuire, senior vp, enterprise research at U.K.-based technology market research firm CCS Insight, called the decision "an astute approach to succession planning," explaining: "Bezos created the blueprint for internet businesses: rapid innovation, huge scale and relentless focus on the customer, and few people on the planet have the DNA of managing high-growth/high-innovation businesses at scale [like] Andy Jassy."
Added McQuire: "He also fully understands the wealth of assets across Amazon’s flywheel of operations as well, and the move should afford Jeff Bezos more time to focus on big, new bets for the company. The key question will be how Jassy manages some of the inevitable bumps in the road Amazon will face with issues like antitrust, workers’ rights and employee activism on this rise."
Concluded McQuire: "He has proven to be very outspoken on broader political issues in the past and he will face an increasingly scrutinous media as the firm continues on its trajectory. Along with his successor at AWS (which will be another key move to watch), above all, Jassy will need to maintain trust in the Amazon brand in light of these issues."
"Exit" - Google News
February 03, 2021 at 09:45PM
https://ift.tt/36FUI5S
Jeff Bezos' Amazon CEO Exit Catches Wall Street by Surprise - Hollywood Reporter
"Exit" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2zNkU0N
https://ift.tt/2YrnuUx
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Jeff Bezos' Amazon CEO Exit Catches Wall Street by Surprise - Hollywood Reporter"
Post a Comment