Dave Clark, Amazon’s CEO of worldwide consumer business, is resigning effective July 1st, the company announced on Friday. Clark has been with Amazon for 23 years and played a major role in building out the company’s expansive and speedy supply chain. He’s one of two chief executives at Amazon who report up to company CEO Andy Jassy. Clark will be resigning to “pursue other opportunities,” Jassy wrote in a memo Amazon shared publicly.
Clark elaborated more on his departure in an email to staff. “For some time, I have discussed my intent to transition out of Amazon with my family and others close to me, but I wanted to ensure the teams were setup for success,” Clark wrote in the note, which he posted on Twitter. “I feel confident that time is now.”
I’ve had an incredible time at Amazon but it’s time for me to build again. It’s what drives me. To all I’ve had the honor of working with: thank you for making it so much fun to come to work every day for 23 years to invent cool, amazing things for customers.
Email to team below pic.twitter.com/c8Ao46VvaJ
— Dave Clark (@davehclark) June 3, 2022
Clark’s departure could mark a major shift for the company during Jassy’s still-new tenure. In his memo, Jassy says that Amazon is “trying to be thoughtful in our plans for Dave’s succession and any changes we make” and that it expects to have an update “over the next few weeks.” Amazon declined to comment further.
Clark has been at Amazon since 1999 and has held other executive roles, including SVP of worldwide operations, VP of worldwide operations, VP of global customer fulfillment, and VP of North America operations, according to Amazon’s investor relations website. He took over as CEO of worldwide consumer in 2021 after Jeff Wilke announced his retirement.