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Amazon insiders predict which of their peers will gain— and lose — the most power now that Andy Jassy will be CEO (AMZN)

Andy JassyIsaac Brekken/AP

Summary List Placement

Amazon is replacing its founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, with longtime Amazon Web Services cloud boss Andy Jassy in the third quarter of this year.

It's unclear how exactly the transition will reshape Amazon's inner workings at this point. Bezos, for one, will still be engaged with the company's most important decisions in his new role as executive chairman.

But it's only natural for a change of this magnitude — the first new CEO in Amazon's 27-year history — to cause significant shifts in the company's management and culture. 

Insider spoke with over a dozen current and former employees, as well as industry analysts, to break down the winners and losers of Jassy's promotion. The list includes senior executives, teams, and other initiatives at Amazon.

These are the people and divisions poised to gain — and lose — the most:

Winners

AWS leadership including Matt Garman, Peter DeSantis, and Charlie Bell: Naming Jassy, who's helped build AWS from the ground up, shows where Amazon's priorities are, as its cloud unit continues to account for a larger piece of its overall business. Tom Forte from investment firm D.A. Davidson told Insider that it's important to note that the path to Amazon's next CEO ran through AWS. "This is a declaration that Amazon is a services company," he said.

That also means the handful of AWS executives rumored to take over the AWS CEO position, including Matt Garman, Peter DeSantis, and Charlie Bell, will see even more responsibilities at the company.

Dave Clark: One of the biggest winners of the recent leadership shake-up is Dave Clark, who was promoted to Amazon's CEO of worldwide consumer after longtime retail boss Jeff Wilke decided to retire last year. Clark wasn't a surprise pick, given his growing responsibilities in recent years. But the timing of his promotion is ideal since Clark is stepping into a new role at the same time his new boss (Jassy) is, giving both executives more reason to work nicely with each other as they settle into their respective roles, one former executive said.

"At this point, Clark doesn't need to be competitive with Jassy — he's got exactly what he wanted," this person said. "Eventually, he'll want Jassy's role, but he knows the game."

Doug Herrington and Russ Grandinetti: Two retail executives at Amazon kept coming up in conversations with current and former employees: Doug Herrington, SVP of North America Consumer, and Russ Grandinetti, SVP of international consumer. Both Herrington and Grandinetti were key players under Amazon's former retail boss Wilke. But with Willke no longer at the helm, and Clark now running the whole retail side of the business, Jassy will likely need to rely more on Herrington and Grandinetti for a smooth transition.

"Time for Russ Grandinetti and Doug Herrington to expand their already considerable influence on our company's culture and performance," Wilke wrote in an email to employees when he announced his retirement last year.

BEN: The Black Employee Network, an internal affinity group for Black employees, will likely exert more influence going forward. Jassy is an outspoken proponent of workplace diversity and equality, and starting this year, has become the main executive representing BEN. Change is already underway: Amazon pledged to double the number of Black executives last year and this year following a meeting between Jassy and BEN last year, as Insider previously reported.

Gaming: Video games haven't exactly been the most successful part of Amazon in recent years, despite having invested lots of money and making it a priority for AWS. Still, Jassy seems determined to keep supporting the unit and grow the business. In an internal email this month, first reported by Bloomberg, Jassy reiterated his commitment to the gaming business, saying, "Though we haven't consistently succeeded yet in [Amazon Game Studios], I believe we will if we hang in there."

GettyImages 813883140Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Losers

Jeff Wilke: While Wilke played an instrumental role in growing Amazon from the very early years, and deserves all the credit for the company's success, he may forever have to deal with the unwarranted stigma of being the guy who lost out to Jassy for the CEO position. 

Some employees believe Wilke announced his retirement last year only after learning that Jassy would eventually be named Bezos's successor. Those rumors gained steam not just because of the timing but also since Wilke and Jassy were always linked together as the two most likely heir-apparents to Bezos. (They were both promoted to CEO of their respective segments in 2016.) Amazon's spokesperson publicly denied those rumors, saying Wilke's decision had nothing to do with the CEO change. "Only Jassy, Wilke, and Bezos know the answer to that," one former executive said.

Andy Jassy: Not everyone's taking a rosy view of Jassy's promotion. Though Bezos is stepping back, he is still the de facto CEO, at least in the near-term, according to Loup Ventures' Andrew Murphy. This contrarian view is backed by Bezos's announcement that he'll remain involved in the company's most important decisions, which, for Jassy, could mean "extra scrutiny" from Bezos, Murphy said. 

"Jassy's not the kind of winner that Tim Cook was when he took over Apple. Long-term, he could be," Murphy said.

Warehouse and retail employees: Amazon's treatment of warehouse workers have been a perennial issue for the company, and have come under greater scope during the pandemic, leading to a series of protests and lawmaker complaints. Several warehouse workers told Insider that they don't expect much change in terms of working conditions or pay even after Jassy steps in, as he's known for being a loyal Bezos protégé with similar business values.

In a statement to Insider, Amazon's spokesperson said, "We're proud to offer industry-leading pay and benefits to all our employees, and a working environment that employees voted the second best in the world in a recent Forbes survey, and that won't change."

Some of Amazon's retail employees, including those in the marketplace business, told Insider they're worried that Jassy's appointment could potentially change the overall work environment to one that resembles the culture of AWS. One person said AWS has a reputation for being a "tougher" workplace than other parts of the company, as Jassy is known for his exhaustive attention to detail. Another person said AWS employees tend to think they're working on "harder" problems than the rest of the company.

Bezos's passion projects: One major question for Jassy is whether he has the same level of creativity and "think big" mentality Bezos is known for. That means some of Bezos's passion projects may not see the same level of support from Jassy, according to one former executive. Amazon Studios, for example, could face different standards under Jassy, who may not be as supportive as Bezos about investing in the video streaming business. Amazon's Lab126 hardware devices unit — responsible for big hits like the Echo and Alexa voice assistant but also the Fire Phone debacle — could face similarly different challenges under Jassy.

Unionization: The new CEO announcement comes amid Amazon's first major unionization vote in years at its warehouse in Alabama. While Jassy is an outspoken critic of certain social issues, like racial inequality, he's not exactly known for addressing labor issues. His reluctance to engage in labor talks could be a loss for employees hoping for a leader more supportive of their unionization efforts.

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SEE ALSO: Andy Jassy will be the next CEO of Amazon. Insiders dish on what it's like to work for Jeff Bezos' successor, who built AWS into a $40 billion business.

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