Blackburn was speculated to be a potential successor to CEO Jeff Bezos, after Bezos announced he would be stepping down from the role earlier this month.
Jeff Blackburn, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Amazon, announced in a company memo on Wednesday he would be departing the company after 22 years. Blackburn, who just returned from a year-long sabbatical, was instrumental in shaping some of Amazonâs most popular products such as Prime Video and Amazon Studios and has previously been rumored as a potential successor to CEO Jeff Bezos.
Blackburn hinted that he would be moving into a new role somewhere else, but hasnât made his new position public yet.
His departure is the latest in a C-Suite level switch-up at Amazon, giving newly appointed CEO Andy Jassy a chance to build up a new executive team. Earlier this month, Bezos announced he would be stepping down as CEO and moving into an executive chairman role, handing over the reins to Jassy, former head of Amazon Web Services. In October, Amazonâs Worldwide Consumer CEO Jeff Wilke announced he would be leaving the company in the first quarter, and that former head of operations Dave Clark will be succeeding him.
âI have an important update for you all, one I know youâve been waiting on for a long time,â Blackburn wrote in an internal memo, obtained by âThe âtoo many Jeffâsâ bug thatâs been bothering many of you for two decades has been fixed...I am officially leaving Amazon today.â
In 1996, Blackburn was working as a junior investment banker at Deutsche Bank. In that role, he was assigned to work on the Amazon IPO, a company known then just for selling books. He joined Amazon soon after that in 1998. In the memo, Blackburn told his colleagues that he hopes he pushed Amazon âto be even more bold, see around corners and think big.â
âWith the core business in as strong a position as itâs ever been, I know thatâs what customers will want from you over the next decade,â Blackburn said in the memo. âTerrific new s-team leaders have stepped into these big roles and are continuing to build and boldly invent. I admire and particularly commend your leadership for the past 11 months: watching the company execute during COVID has been astonishing â your teams deliver Amazonâs best when the best is most needed.
Bezos responded on the companyâs intranet that it was âa lucky day for us when you got assigned that IPO roadshowâ and thanked Blackburn for his more than two decades of leadership.
Even though Blackburn has declined to announce his next move at the moment, he told his colleagues they will know his next move âsoon.â
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