Will Andy Jassy be for Amazon what Tim Cook was for Apple after Steve Jobs, a tremendous growth accelerator?
The question has stirred the small world of finance and new technologies since the announcement by Jeff Bezos to withdraw from the flagship of the American economy.
If he will now change leagues by taking control of an entire empire ranging from online retail to film production, including a booming air freight sector, Jassy, who arrived in 1997 as director of marketing in the future giant of commerce, was not quite a shadow man.
It was he who founded Amazon Web Services in 2006. The branch specializing in "cloud" and data, less known to the general public, has become one of the most profitable of the group which dominates this global market, ahead of Microsoft and Google.
Having climbed the ranks one by one, Jassy became above all one of the prominent members of the elite group of executives of Bezos, called the "S-team".
A task force that advised the big boss when making important business decisions.
"AWS has become the main source of profit for the group"
For financial analysts, this choice reinforces the profitability strategy within the group.
"While Amazon is focusing on this sector and its battles against Microsoft, the fact that Andy (Jassy) takes the helm signals the start of a new chapter in the cloud race," explains analyst Dan Ives of the firm. specialized Wedbush.
"It is quite significant that it is the successor because AWS has become the main source of profit for the group when originally these servers were only used to absorb peaks in consumption at Christmas" confides Benoît Berthelot. , author of "The world according to Amazon".
"It is a form of reward for having made this branch bigger, on which all of Amazon's new services such as online advertising or facial recognition are based," he adds.
"A smoother and more positive image than that of the billionaire"
Although this fan of American football, and of the New York Giants team, has no formal computer training, he has developed a reputation as one of those executives who understands complex technologies and can explain them to people. laymen in the business world.
If he is a commercial asset, he could also be an institutional asset because Andy Jassy will have to face many challenges and controversies.
The second largest American employer with a trifle of 800,000 employees is indeed accused by the American authorities of abuse of a dominant position and regularly criticized for working conditions.
“He will be a successor with a smoother and more positive image than that of the billionaire, it will be useful for them to face controversies and commissions of inquiry.
But Bezos will remain the strategist and will always invent new products ”specifies Benoît Berthelot.
He gives the last A of the GAFA "a new face" at a time when Bezos is sometimes a scarecrow in view of the extent of his individual fortune.
Jassy ultimately only weighs $ 377 million ...
