The news Tuesday that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos would be stepping down from his role as CEO later this year drew a huge social media response, with a variety of users reacting to the development and offering up armchair analysis of what it all could mean for the tech giant and the billionaire boss.
Some speculated on what type of leader Bezos’ successor Andy Jassy will be, and how Jassy’s impressive run as head of Amazon Web Services will inform his heading up of the entire company.
Twitter, which really hasn’t perked up this much since Donald Trump was banned from the platform near the end of his presidency, was true to its Twitter self, too. So there was a healthy dose of reaction just poking fun at the news.
Here are some of the highlights:
The leaders of fellow tech giants offered up their best wishes, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.
Congratulations to @JeffBezos and @ajassy on your new roles. A well-deserved recognition of what you have accomplished.
— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) February 2, 2021
Congrats @JeffBezos , best wishes for Day 1 and Earth fund. Congrats @ajassy on your new role!
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) February 2, 2021
Amazon chief technology officer Werner Vogels was among those who praised Jassy, calling him “the absolute best person to lead the company.” Tech journalist Kara Swisher also said Jassy will be “much more open and less idiosyncratic” than Bezos.
After many years at @amazon I can tell you that @ajassy is the absolute best person lead the company. More customer obsessed than any other leader I have met. #stilldayone https://t.co/NQXXnrbGur
— Werner Vogels (@Werner) February 2, 2021
Andy is not unlike Satya Nadella at Microsoft (we will ignore the Ballmer years) and I expect he will be a much more open and less idiosyncratic leader that Bezos, who can be, well, Bezoian. Andy is really quite affable and thoughtful and what he has built @awscloud is massive.
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) February 2, 2021
Others speculated on the move and what it could mean for how much Bezos will stay connected to Amazon, what other projects he’ll focus on, and more.
So it sounds like Bezos is Larry Page'ing himself.
(Translation: He wants to focus more on future, big picture stuff and less on the day to day. Question: Isn't that what he was doing already?) https://t.co/ypZvi1qAsh https://t.co/ObjcSXRzqL
— Shira Ovide (@ShiraOvide) February 2, 2021
Jeff Bezos will no longer be Amazon's CEO. But he'll become executive chair, which means the new CEO will have a boss Bezos never had.
So, for all intents and purposes, Bezos is still in charge.
— Dan Primack (@danprimack) February 2, 2021
If you've been paying attention to Bezos over the past few years, he's repeatedly said getting to space with Blue Origin is the most important thing he's working on. Now he'll get a chance to spend more time on that.
— Alex Kantrowitz (@Kantrowitz) February 2, 2021
An equally important question at this moment is who's next in line to run AWS
— nilay patel (@reckless) February 2, 2021
Jeff Bezos has a net worth of $200 billion but has had a limited record as a philanthropist until recently.
Now he says he's ready to commit.
"I’ve never had more energy, and this isn’t about retiring. I’m super passionate about the impact I think these organizations can have."
— Teddy Schleifer (@teddyschleifer) February 2, 2021
AWS: $51B run rate growing 28% YoY. Incredibly impressive to maintain nearly 30% growth at this kind of scale.
Andy Jassy will transition into the CEO role at Amazon (Bezos to executive chairman). If you needed more evidence of the importance of AWS within Amazon you got it
— Jamin Ball (@jaminball) February 2, 2021
Others on Twitter focused on getting in their digs or just having a little fun at the expense of one of the richest people on the planet. Bezos’ position of wealth and power — as well as Amazon’s — has made the founder and his company an easy target for years. Lex Luthor, the bald comic book supervillain who some say shares a likeness to Bezos, was trending on Twitter.
jeff bezos is quitting to pursue his true passion: opening an independent bookstore
— Brandy Jensen (@BrandyLJensen) February 2, 2021
Jeff Bezos to step down as Amazon CEO. Vows to spend new free time defeating Superman. pic.twitter.com/D8ohNEVvPg
— Philip DeFranco ???????? (@PhillyD) February 2, 2021
I wondered why my Alexa device kept randomly weeping and playing “All by Myself.” #Bezos
— Ben White (@morningmoneyben) February 2, 2021
can't believe jeff bezos is willing to go job hunting in this economy
— Justin “Hoops” McElroy (@JustinMcElroy) February 2, 2021
Star Trek Beyond actor Jeff Bezos, steps down as CEO of Amazon pic.twitter.com/avBgyYYLAp
— jaden (@JadenMovies) February 2, 2021
The Bezos thing is like when Google became Alphabet. Boy was that some Earth shattering shit
— Drew Magary (@drewmagary) February 2, 2021
Jeff Bezos makes the annual salary of his lowest paid employee every 11 seconds
— Haymarket Books (@haymarketbooks) February 2, 2021
It makes sense Jeff Bezos is quitting. I've heard Amazon is brutal to work for.
— Sridhar Ramesh (@RadishHarmers) February 2, 2021
Jeff Bezos is stepping down as CEO of Amazon later this year. Or tomorrow, if you’re a member of Amazon Prime.
— paul bassett davies (@thewritertype) February 2, 2021
Jeff Bezos resigned on the 1 year anniversary of this tweet https://t.co/SLDRbJuohh
— arya hodjat (@arya_kidding_me) February 2, 2021
