Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is the face of his business empire that now spans everything from e-commerce and cloud computing to hardware devices and even grocery stores.
But behind the wide-ranging company is a team of 10 top executives, who report directly to Bezos himself, based on a list compiled by CNBC. While most of them are company veterans, some come from the outside world, like Jay Carney, the former press secretary of President Barack Obama.
What’s perhaps more surprising is that, despite Amazon’s diverse mix of products and services, Bezos’ direct reports are almost exclusively white men. Besides HR boss Beth Galetti, there’s zero female or people of color. (Amazon declined to comment.)
The New York Times reported on Friday that Amazon’s lack of diversity at the top ranks may have contributed to former Amazon Studios chief Roy Price’s sexual harassment scandal.
Here’s a closer look at the 10 most important people at Amazon who directly report to Bezos:
- Jeff Wilke, CEO of Worldwide Consumer: Wilke is the second most powerful person at Amazon. He runs everything on the retail side, including the marketplace, Prime business, and the newly acquired Whole Foods. The 18-year Amazon veteran was promoted to CEO last year.
- Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon Web Services: Jassy has been at the company since 1997. He’s one of Bezos’ most trusted lieutenants and now runs Amazon’s all-important cloud computing business. He was promoted to the CEO of AWS last year.
- Jeff Blackburn, Sr. VP, Business and Corporate Development: Blackburn is in charge of Amazon’s content business, including Prime Video, Music, and Amazon Studios. He also runs Amazon’s growing advertising business and oversees the company’s M&A and investment arms. A former college football player, Blackburn joined Amazon in 1998.
- Dave Limp, SVP, Amazon Devices, Digital Management: Limp is one of the newest members to join Bezos’ inner circle, reflecting the hardware business’ growing importance at the company. He is in charge of all hardware devices as well as the Alexa voice team. The secretive Lab126 team also reports to him.
- Diego Piacentini, SVP, International Retail: Piacentini is another long-time Amazon executive on this list. A former Apple executive, Piacentini was responsible for all international retail operations after joining Amazon in 2000. He’s currently on a two-year leave to help the Italian government.
- Brian Olsavsky, SVP & CFO Financial Administration: Olsavsky runs Amazon’s finance teams and takes the company’s earnings call every quarter. He joined in 2002 and was promoted to CFO in 2015.
- David Zapolsky, SVP & General Counsel, Legal: Zapolsky takes care of Amazon’s legal, policy, compliance, and regulatory affairs. He joined the company in 1999 and became the general counsel in 2014.
- Beth Galetti, SVP, Human Resources, HR Administration: Galetti became Amazon’s HR chief in 2016, just three years after joining the company. Prior to Amazon, she spent over 8 years at FedEx.
- Jay Carney, Corporate Affairs, Global Corporate Affairs: Best known for his role as the White House press secretary for President Barack Obama, Carney joined Amazon in 2015. He runs all public relations and public policy parts of the business.
- Jeff Helbling, VP Technical Advisor to CEO: Helbling was named the Technical Advisor to CEO, also known as Bezos’s “shadow,” earlier this year. In this role, Helbling gets to join Bezos everywhere he goes, including business meetings, to learn about all aspects of the company. Before, he was in charge of the Kindle’s content business.
Source: Tech CNBC
Meet the 10 executives at Amazon who report directly to CEO Jeff Bezos