Jeff Bezos, one of the world’s richest people and founder of Amazon, has announced he will step down as CEO of the multinational tech company in the second half of 2021.

His replacement, Andy Jassy, has been an employee of Amazon for nearly as long as Bezos, having worked there since 1997.

Amazon has seen a huge increase in profit and investment since the beginning of the global pandemic and there are plans to continue its expansion.

Andy Jassy has been an employee of Bezos since his graduation from Harvard in 1997 (Picture: Reuters)

So, who is Jassy, the man chosen to steer Amazon and replace Bezos as commander-in-chief? This is what you need to know.

Who is Andy Jassy?

The 53-year-old is a Harvard Graduate and long-time employee of Amazon.

The company's head of cloud computing has never worked with any other firm, having joined Amazon directly after achieving his masters at Harvard Business School.

He told the business school’s podcast last year: “I took my last final exam at HBS, the first Friday of May in 1997, and I started Amazon next Monday.

“No, I didn’t know what my job was going to be, or what my title was going to be.”

Alongside his role at Amazon, Jassy serves as chair of Rainier prep school’s Board of Trustees and on the Trust of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Does he have a wife and children?

Following his graduation, Jassy married his wife Elana Rochelle Caplan. Both their fathers were senior partners at Dewey Ballantine LLP, a corporate law firm that was based in New York.

The pair went on to have two children together and reside in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. They moved to Seattle to be closer to family “for a few years before returning to the city (New York)” according to Jassy.

However, his continued success at Amazon meant that they ended up staying in Seattle. They’ve now been there since their marriage 23 years ago.

In 2020, Jassy reportedly bought a second home in Santa Monica, California near Bezos’ LA mansion.

What does he do at Amazon?

It is not known what roles Jassy acquired in his formative years at the tech giant, but in 2006 he helped launch Amazon Web Services (AWS).

AWS has evolved from an online marketplace where retailers and individuals can sell products, to include a cloud hosting product which enables companies, schools, and governments to run websites and apps via Amazon’s web services.

Jassy has been given much of the credit for this e-commerce to tech giant transformation, and was rewarded by Bezos in 2016 when he was appointed the AWS CEO.

The cloud hosting product is thought to be the area where Amazon bosses are hoping to expand and continue as frontrunners, as other tech giants - such as Oracle and Microsoft - compete for notability.

AWS is the frontrunner in cloud computing, owning 30 percent of the market share and laying claim to half the world’s public cloud infrastructure market.

Why has Jassy been chosen to take over from Bezos?

The appointment of Jassy as CEO of Amazon comes as the company continues to expand its cloud services.

Jassy is also a prominent member of Bezos’ top advisory team, known as the S-team.

The promotion comes as Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., as well as Microsoft and Oracle continue to grow in profitability and expand their ventures in cloud infrastructure.

Bezos said of his successor: “Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long as I have. He will be an outstanding leader.”

The Washington Post, which Bezos also owns, described Jassy as “the heir apparent” last year.

The move to accelerate Jassy into top position hints that Amazon’s business strategy is turning more towards web development, while continuing to juggle the advertising ventures and online marketplace giant.

The growth of AWS could be a result of businesses turning to online stores and trading in the past year, as well as a sharp rise in online learning which could be the beginning of a new blended business model and learning approach.

What is his net worth and salary?

Jassy is estimated to be worth around $377m (£276.4m), not even equivalent to a quarter of Bezos’ $198bn worth.

He owns about 85,000 shares, valued at $287.3 million - this is down from his previous 100,000 shares inAmazon.

Bezos has awarded Jassy’s effort with various amounts of restricted stock shares since his appointment as AWS CEO, and a $19.7m salary in 2018.

In 2020, Jassy earned a basic salary of $175,000, plus restricted stock unit shares of 4,023 shares, valued at $12.1m.

Andy Jassy: who is the Amazon Web Services chief taking over from Jeff Bezos as Amazon CEO - and what’s his net worth?