When Jeff Bezos decided to step back from running Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) in 2021, he didn't exactly have a deep bench of external candidates to consider. Instead, he turned to Andy Jassy, the guy who'd been quietly building Amazon's most profitable business unit for 15 years. But what made Jassy the right choice wasn't just his track record with cloud computing. It was something deeper, shaped long before he ever set foot in a boardroom.
Building AWS Into Amazon's Profit Engine
Jassy joined Amazon back in 1997, the same year the company went public, which makes him practically ancient by tech company standards. He spent years climbing the ladder before founding Amazon Web Services in 2006, a move that would fundamentally reshape how the internet works.
By the time Jassy stepped down as AWS CEO in 2021, the cloud unit had ballooned into a roughly $40 billion annual business and become Amazon's most profitable division. That's the kind of resume that gets you noticed when the founder decides it's time to hand over the reins of a $2.49 trillion e-commerce and cloud empire.
Bezos made it official on July 5, 2021, coinciding with Amazon's 27th anniversary as an incorporated company. It was a rare leadership transition for one of the world's most powerful tech giants.
The Father Who Shaped A CEO
Here's where it gets interesting. In a 2022 fireside chat hosted by Amazon, Jassy revealed that his biggest influence growing up wasn't some famous business leader or tech visionary. It was his dad.
Jassy described his father as thoughtful, humble and hardworking—the kind of person who taught through example rather than lectures. Two specific moments stuck with him decades later.
The first came from watching his father meticulously sign checks and receipts, taking what seemed like an excessive amount of time. When young Jassy asked why, his father told him something that would stick forever: never assume you're too important for others to read your name. It was a quiet lesson in accountability—no one is above the basic courtesy of being readable.
The second lesson hit harder. At a childhood soccer game, Jassy's father challenged him to run a mile. Jassy finished slowly, feeling proud just for completing it. His father's response was blunt: If you're going to do something halfway, don't do it at all.
"He doesn't remember saying that either, but it always stuck with me that if you're gonna do something, do it right or don't do it. And so he just was a great role model my whole life," Jassy explained. Those lessons still play like "tapes" in the back of his mind when making decisions today.
It's the kind of straightforward wisdom that sounds almost too simple until you realize it's guiding someone running a company that touches billions of lives daily.
The Compensation Package Designed For The Long Haul
Amazon disclosed that Jassy earned $212.7 million in total compensation during his first year as CEO in 2021. Before you gasp, know that nearly all of it came from restricted stock that vests over 10 years—a deliberate structure designed to keep him focused on long-term performance rather than quick wins. His actual base salary? Just $175,000.
As for how he's done since taking over, the numbers tell a solid story. Amazon shares closed at an adjusted $159.90 on July 7, 2021, shortly after Jassy officially became CEO. As of Tuesday's close, they were trading at $232.53—a roughly 45% gain during his tenure. Not bad for someone who learned his most important lessons from watching his dad sign checks and running a slow mile at a soccer game.