- Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos doesn't have a "shadow" advisor anymore, Business Insider has learned.
- Shadows are a highly coveted position within Amazon because the person gets to accompany Bezos everywhere, including meetings, for 18 to 24 months, under the goal of learning about all aspects of the company.
- The vacancy suggests Bezos may be spending more time on non-Amazon issues, making the shadow position less relevant.
- Past shadows include some of the most successful people at Amazon, including AWS CEO Andy Jassy.
- Click here to read more stories on BI Prime
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos no longer has a "shadow" advisor, a highly coveted role within the company from which some of Amazon's most senior executives have been groomed.
The position, formally titled technical advisor to the CEO, entails following the billionaire founder around for a year or two, with the goal of learning about all parts of the company. The job has been empty since earlier this month, after Wei Gao, the most recent shadow, moved on to become VP of grocery tech, product, and supply chain management, Business Insider has learned.
The shadow position doesn't show up under Bezos's team anymore, according to an internal organizational chart seen by Business Insider.
Amazon's spokesperson declined to comment.
The change comes at a time when Bezos is facing unprecedented scrutiny over Amazon and his personal life. Just this week, several reports suggested the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's involvement in hacking Bezos's phone, in part to influence the Bezos-owned Washington Post's coverage of the Arab country. At the same time, US presidential candidates and lawmakers from around the world are attacking Amazon from all angles, criticizing the company's growing market power and aggressive business practices.
The decision to leave the shadow position vacant suggests Bezos may be spending more time on non-Amazon issues. The shadow accompanies Bezos everywhere he goes, including all meetings. But with less of his time spent at Amazon, Bezos may have found it difficult to accommodate the position. Bezos is increasingly devoting more time to some of his other personal projects, such as his space exploration company Blue Origin.
It's unclear if the change is permanent or if Bezos plans to hire a new shadow again. The current vacancy, however, is unusual — in the past, shadow transitions typically happen quickly, with almost no gap in between the personnel change.
Bezos has always had a shadow since the late 1990s, but formalized the position in 2003 when Andy Jassy, the current CEO of Amazon's AWS cloud division, took the role, according to a 2013 Bloomberg report. Bezos first got the idea for a shadow from Intel, where the position has been in place for years, the report said.
Most of Amazon's top executives have their own shadows. For example, Jeff Wilke, CEO of worldwide consumer, lets former marketplace manager Yunyang Wang shadow him, while hardware boss Dave Limp has hired Jon Kirk, director of Echo and Alexa, as his technical advisor last year. Meanwhile, Amazon press and policy boss Jay Carney doesn't have one.
Previous shadows of Bezos have gone on to run important parts of Amazon. Besides Jassy, executives leading Amazon's India business and its cashierless Go stores have all filled the position in the past.
Here are the 7 most high-profile executives who were previously Bezos's shadow advisor:
Andy Jassy, CEO of AWS
Jassy was the first person to formalize the shadow position in 2003, according to Brad Stone's book, "The Everything Store." The book says Jassy turned the position into a "quasi-chief of staff," as he took notes during meetings and discussed important issues with Bezos at the end of the day.
Jassy is now the head of AWS, Amazon's wildly successful cloud business that is on pace to generate roughly $35 billion in annual sales.
Amit Agarwal, SVP of Amazon India
Agarwal, who runs Amazon India, served as Bezos's shadow from 2007 to 2009. Since joining Amazon in 1999, he's mostly been involved in the company's international business.
Last week, Bezos announced plans to invest an additional $1 billion in India, signaling his support for Agarwal's leadership in the country.
Dilip Kumar, VP of Amazon Go
Kumar, who's spent over 16 years at Amazon, is best known for his role developing Amazon Go, the cashierless stores that first opened in late 2016.
He was Bezos's shadow for two years until May 2013. In his Linkedin profile, he says the shadow role was "quite possibly the best job that I've ever had."
Maria Renz, VP of delivery experience
Renz was the first female executive to shadow Bezos. She held the position for almost two years between 2015 and 2017.
Renz has been in a number of different positions at Amazon over the past 20 years, including the CEO of Quidsi, an Amazon subsidiary that used to run diapers.com. She is now in charge of improving Amazon's delivery services.
Ian Freed, CEO of Bamboo Learning
Freed spent over 12 years at Amazon before moving on to co-found a startup called Bamboo Learning in 2018. He describes his startup as an "education-focused software and services company with a mission to teach using voice-based devices and software," according to his Linkedin profile.
Freed was Bezos's shadow in 2006 for a little over a year. He went on to become VP of Kindle and devices, and ran the restaurants and tickets business for Amazon as well.
Greg Hart, VP of worldwide Amazon Video
Hart is a long-time Amazon veteran, having spent over two decades at the company across various roles, including marketing and the development of the Alexa voice assistant.
He was Bezos's shadow from 2009 to 2011, and is now leading Amazon's Prime video business.
Jay Marine, VP of Prime Video Europe
Marine, who was Bezos's shadow in 2013, has spent nearly 18 years at Amazon. For the most part, he was on the Kindle team, developing its business from the very early years.
He is now based in London, as VP of Prime Video's European arm.
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