Before his leave, Blackburn headed up Amazon’s entertainment, business development and advertising businesses. Those operations include Amazon Studios, Prime Video and music, as well as mergers and acquisitions and advertising.
He joined Amazon in 1998, just a few years after the company was founded, as Product Development and Operations before becoming SVP, WW Business Development in 2004. Prior to Amazon, he held Associate positions at Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley.
“I hope that, on the margin, I pushed [the senior executive] team and Amazon to be even more bold, see around corners, think big,” Blackburn wrote. “What an amazing 22 years it has been together—I will cherish it, forever.”
Reuters also reported that Blackburn was on sabbatical in 2020 and Jeff Bezos said Blackburn had apprised him of what is in store and that it was “very exciting”.
The shift in the executive team comes as Andy Jassy prepares to take over Bezos as Chief Executive Officer.
“Thank you for more than two decades of leadership,” wrote Bezos on Tuesday in response to Blackburn’s memo. “
“Though it’s not quite ready to be shared, Blackburn has kept me in the loop on his next chapter, and I can assure you it’s a very exciting one! I predict that Jeff will be every bit as amazing in his new role as he’s been in all his roles at Amazon.”
