Amazon consumer business boss Jeff Wilke to step down

Amazon has announced its chief of consumer business Jeff Wilke is retiring early next year after more than two decades at the company.

The Amazon veteran will be succeeded by Dave Clark, who is currently the company’s senior vice president for worldwide operations. Wilke is one of Amazon’s highest ranking officers and was expected to be a potential CEO successor for founder Jeff Bezos.

“Since Jeff joined the company, I have been lucky enough to have him as my tutor. I've learned so much from him, and I'm not the only one. He's been an incredible teacher to all of us,” Bezos said in a blog post to employees.

“That form of leadership is so leveraged. When you see us taking care of customers, you can thank Jeff for it. And there's this important point: in tough moments and good ones, he's been just plain fun to work with. Never underestimate the importance of that. It makes a difference.”

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