Jeff Blackburn, a longtime Amazon executive who first joined the company after working on its 1997 IPO, is retiring — again.
Variety and others reported the news Friday, sharing memos from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and Blackburn.
Blackburn previously announced a retirement in February 2021, before proceeding to land a gig at storied venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners. But it was a short stint. He returned to Amazon in May 2021 to lead the Global Media & Entertainment organization that included Prime Video and Amazon Studios, Music, Podcasts/Wondery, Audible, Games, and Twitch.
“The last 18 months have been a thrill — working with all of you in GME and launching some of our biggest, boldest projects ever in entertainment and sports,” Blackburn said in his memo. “But I’ve decided to spend 2023 differently, giving more time to family, and feel strongly this is the right decision for me.”
Blackburn, who attended Dartmouth and Stanford, began his association with Amazon in 1997 when he was a junior investment banker at Deutsche Bank, assigned to work on the Amazon IPO. During his more than two decades of active work at the company, Blackburn led key businesses including Amazon’s third-party sales, Prime Video, Amazon Music and Amazon Advertising, working alongside Bezos on key business initiatives.
In his memo, Jassy praised Blackburn for successes such as the “Rings of Power” streaming TV series on Prime Video; the first season of “Thursday Night Football” on Prime; and the acquisition of Hollywood studio MGM.
“Amazon wouldn’t be the same company without Jeff, and I’d like to thank him for his many contributions to the company’s success thus far and in the future,” Jassy wrote.
Jassy announced some leadership changes as part of the Blackburn retirement. Mike Hopkins, who leads Prime Video, Amazon Studios, and MGM, will continue to lead those teams and report to Jassy. Steve Boom, who has been leading Music and Podcasting teams, will also now oversee Audible, Twitch, and Games businesses — and report to Jassy as well.
Blackburn said he would be leaving the company in January.
from GeekWire https://www.geekwire.com/2022/longtime-amazon-exec-jeff-blackburn-to-retire-after-brief-return-leading-entertainment-unit/