'I wanted to..': Jeff Bezos reveals why he stepped down as Amazon CEO (2024)

ByVaishnawi Sinha

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos had surprised the world when he decided to step down as the CEO of his own company a couple of years ago. In a recent podcast with Lex Fridman, he revealed why he decided to take such a drastic career decision.

During a recent episode of the Lex Fridman Podcast, Jeff Bezos revealed that he had been pondering stepping down as the Amazon CEO because he wanted to focus on another project of his - Blue Origin.

The billionaire said on the podcast that the real reason why he resigned as the CEO of Amazon was his deep commitment towards he newer venture Blue Origin, a space exploration and aerospace company, tapping into the up-and-coming industry.

Bezos said that while Amazon had been thriving under his leadership, he saw that Blue Origin needed his attention more. He decided that juggling both Amazon and his space venture could be problematic, especially since the way space sector is growing today.

During the podcast, the billionaire said, "As the CEO of a publicly traded company, it's going to get my full attention. And it's just how I think about things." He further said that since he joined Blue Origin full time, he has "never worked harder".

All about Jeff Bezos' firm Blue Origin

Blue Origin was founded by Bezos in 2000, and started out as an aerospace and rocket manufacturing company. While not much is known about the early years of the company, its development of a reusable rocket called New Shepard has been a landmark achievement in the firm's history.

Blue Origin is a direct competitor of Elon Musk's SpaceX and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic. However, when it comes to billionaire-owned private space firms, Jeff Bezos is heavily trailing behind Elon Musk.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has also signed a contract with NASA for the company's Blue Moon mission. It will be launched in partnership with NASA's Artemis V missions, which aim to send manned spacecrafts to Moon and Mars.

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