Jeff Bezos of Amazon to step down as CEO, Andy Jassy to take over

The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos has decided to step down and announced that Amazon executive Andy Jassy will take over the CEO role on July 5.

"We chose that date because it's sentimental for me," Bezos said during an Amazon shareholder meeting. He explained that it was exactly 27 years ago on that date in 1994 that Amazon was incorporated.

Based at Seattle, Amazon.com Inc. announced that Bezos was stepping down as CEO in February but the company did not provide any specific data. At present Jassy runs the company's cloud-computing business.

Bezos, 57 and with a personal fortune of $167 billion, won't be going far. He will become executive chair at Amazon and focus on new products and initiatives. He also plans to focus on his other ventures, such as his rocket ship company, Blue Origin, and his newspaper, The Washington Post.

Amazon also announced it would buy storied Hollywood studio MGM for $8.45 billion with the hopes of filling its video streaming service with more shows and movies to watch.