Dave Clark, Amazon Consumer Business CEO for 23 years, resigns; replacement soon

Dave Clark, who built Amazon.com into a global delivery giant, is leaving the company’s consumer sector to pursue other options.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said he intends to pick a replacement in the next few weeks and that the business has work to do in Clark’s section. Clark will leave the company on July 1.

The resignation underscores Amazon’s shifting of the guard, which had seasoned ranks under founder Jeff Bezos. Several vice presidents and Bezos himself have left the e-commerce and cloud company, but executives have tried to maintain the founder’s consumer focus and startup culture.

The online retailer recently reported a $2 billion (Rs. 15,538 crore) damage from building too much warehousing and transportation capacity, vowing to lower order fulfilment costs.

Clark tweeted that he wanted to construct. “It drives me,” he saidHis departure from Amazon will be accompanied by “a solid multi-year plan to combat inflation in 2022.”

Clark didn’t want Jassy to second-guess him, a source said. Amazon was silent.

Clark joined Amazon after business school in May 1999. As of last year, he controlled Amazon’s retail, logistics, and other consumer-facing companies. He established an in-house delivery business that rivalled FedEx and UPS.

Michael Indresano, a former Amazon logistics VP, remarked, “He took risks others wouldn’t.” Clark, Indresano’s former supervisor, suggested buying dozens of planes to give Amazon more transportation control and advocated for warehouse robots.

Clark’s departure follows Sheryl Sandberg’s announcement that she was departing Meta Platforms after 14 years.

Since COVID-19 began spreading two years ago, Clark has overseen Amazon’s warehouse and delivery operations. As home-shopping orders increased, staff felt ill and the company made more than 150 adjustments, including installing temperature scanners and social distancing technologies.

The change corresponded with more union organising and scrutiny of Amazon’s safety, compensation, and productivity tracking. Clark defended Amazon vociferously, sometimes attacking critics.

Clark has recently faced a warehouse worker scarcity and increasing gas prices. That led to Amazon’s first-ever fuel and inflation tax on merchants who pay Amazon to fulfil their products in the U.S.