Amazon Web Services CEO Adam Selipsky steps down to 'spend more time with family, recharge'

Amazon Web Services CEO announced he's stepping down after leaving the e-commerce company's cloud computing business he spent 15 years working for in a "strong position."

Adam Selipsky, who became CEO of the Amazon subsidiary in 2021, will leave the business to "spend more time with family for a while, recharge a bit, and create some mental free space to reflect and consider the possibilities," the former executive said in an Amazon news release.

"We were fortunate that Adam agreed to step in and lead AWS, and has deftly led the business, while also developing his leadership team," Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in the release. "Adam is now going to move on to his next challenge."

Selipsky said he's "grateful" for what he's "learned about technology, leadership, organization and culture at Amazon," according to the release.

"Helping all of our customers and partners to build has been an amazing experience," Selipsky said. "Above all, I am grateful for my many friendships here, and for such talented colleagues who have taught me so much, while providing such good cheer."

Who will replace Adam Selipsky as Amazon AWS's CEO

Selipsky will officially be replaced on June 3 by Matt Garman, who began with Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a summer intern in 2005.

"Matt has an unusually strong set of skills and experiences for his new role," Jassy said in the announcement. "He’s very customer-focused, a terrific product leader, inventive, a clever problem-solver, right a lot, has high standards and meaningful bias for action, and in the 18 years he’s been in AWS, he’s been one of the better learners I’ve encountered."

Selipsky said Garman and AWS's leadership "are ready for this next big opportunity," according to the release.

"I’m excited to see what they and you do next, because I know it will be impressive," Selipsky said. "The future is bright for AWS (and for Amazon). I wish you all the very best of luck on this adventure."

'AWS is much more than just a business'

For Garman, "AWS is much more than just a business," the new CEO said in the release.

"We are a team of missionaries working passionately to help make our customers’ lives and businesses better every day," Garman said. "It has been a privilege to work alongside all of you for the past 18 years, and I am humbled for the opportunity to continue to do so in this new broader role. I’m excited to get started!"

What does AWS do?

AWS is a cloud provider, meaning it allows people and organizations to securely store data backups, emails, virtual desktops, software development and testing files, big data analytics and customer-facing web applications, according to the Amazon subsidiary's website.

The benefits of cloud computing include improved agility thus allowing easy access to a broad range of technologies, the elasticity of resources, savings on costs since data centers and physical servers won't be needed and it gives applications a quicker global reach, AWS said.

AWS underwent two rounds of layoffs in April

AWS announced more layoffs in April after previously announcing the job cuts that were expected to affect 9,000 employees, CNBC reported.

“It is a tough day across our organization,” Selipsky wrote in the memo obtained by CNBC.

More than 18,000 employees were laid off from the company in January, mostly in its human resources and stores divisions, CNBC reported. The reasoning behind Amazon's cuts is due to the company going on a hiring spree during the COVID-19 pandemic, the outlet said.