Internal memo: Key Amazon exec Jeff Blackburn officially leaving, hinting at new

Another Jeff is moving on from his longtime Amazon executive role, filling out the picture of what has become a massive leadership transition at the tech giant.

Jeff Blackburn, the senior vice president who played a key behind-the-scenes role as one of Jeff Bezos’ top lieutenants for more than two decades, is leaving Amazon as of today, following a year-long sabbatical, he wrote in a message to Amazon’s senior leaders, posted to the company’s intranet and obtained by GeekWire.

“I’m not retiring and will have news on what’s next for me soon,” Blackburn wrote.

The company isn’t saying where Blackburn is expected to land next, but Bezos made it clear that it’s not likely to be a subject of contention.

Blackburn “has kept me in the loop on his next chapter, and I can assure you it’s a very exciting one!” Bezos wrote in his response, also posted Tuesday to the Amazon intranet. “I predict that Jeff will be every bit as amazing in his new role as he’s been in all his roles at Amazon. Easy prediction. Big congrats to you, Jeff.” [See full messages from Bezos and Blackburn below.]

Much has changed in Amazon’s executive suite in Blackburn’s year away.

• Bezos this month announced plans to step down as CEO in the third quarter of this year, shifting to a role as executive chairman, replaced as CEO by Andy Jassy, the longtime Amazon Web Services leader.
• Jeff Wilke, Amazon’s Worldwide Consumer CEO, announced in October that he would be leaving in the first quarter of this year, replace by Dave Clark, the former head of worldwide operations.

Blackburn showed his sense of humor in his message to the senior leadership team, or s-team, joking about one challenge that his departure will resolve.

“The ‘too many Jeff’s’ bug that’s been bothering many of you for two decades has been fixed!” he wrote. “Over the years, we’ve always had multiple Jeff’s on s-team—Jeff Wilke, Jeff B, myself, and for a time Jeff Holden.  It’s actually how I became “jblack” to many of you and to employees across Amazon.  Wilke’s retirement meant one less Jeff, and today, I’m taking it down to just the original.”

Like Wilke, Blackburn had been viewed previously as a potential successor to Bezos as CEO, not for continuity of first names, but for depth of experience. As Blackburn noted in memo, his association with Amazon started when he was a junior investment banker at Deutsche Bank, assigned to work on the Amazon IPO. During his more than 21 years of active work at the company, Blackburn led key businesses including Amazon’s third-party sales, Prime Video, Amazon Music and Amazon Advertising, working alongside Bezos on key business initiatives.

In his message Tuesday, Blackburn recalled one pivotal moment: “In early 1998, I was told by the legendary CFO Joy Covey, that the website might become more than books… ‘you need to just come up here now, trust me’. Wow, you mean like Tapes & CDs & VHS? Done.”

He also navigated public challenges along the way. In 2018, Blackburn faced criticism from Amazon Studios employees for what they reportedly perceived as him glossing over the circumstances of studio chief Roy Price’s resignation following a sexual harassment allegation against Price. Speaking with employees, Blackburn “sought to cast the situation as a fresh start for an organization already undertaking a bold new strategy,” but his message “frustrated some employees,” news publication The Information reported at the time.

One effect of Blackburn’s departure will be to give Jassy a chance to reshape more of the Amazon leadership…