Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Jeff Wilke, CEO of Amazon’s worldwide consumer division, is planning to retire in the first quarter of 2021, the company announced in a regulatory filing on Friday.
Wilke oversees several of Amazon’s high-priority business lines and was considered a possible successor to CEO Jeff Bezos. The Pittsburgh native (and Steelers fan) joined the company in 1999 and helped build Amazon’s logistics operations into the behemoth it is today. He was put in charge of the company’s global consumer business in 2016.
He said in a memo to staff on Friday that it was “time for me to take time to explore personal interests that have taken a back seat for over two decades,” according to The Wall Street Journal, adding that he was focused on preparing…