Dive Brief:
- Amazon’s global consumer chief, Dave Clark, who helped lead the building-out of its logistics system, is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities, effective July 1.
- Clark began at Amazon in 1999, just a day after graduating with an MBA degree. He started out as an operations manager in Kentucky, taking on more responsibilities until he reached the role of CEO Worldwide Consumer.
- The company did not announce a succession plan. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a company message that “I expect to be ready with an update for you over the next few weeks” around the consumer team’s leadership.
Dive Insight:
Clark has served at Amazon for most of the company’s life. When he started, the company had just six fulfillment centers.
Jassy said of Clark that he “led teams who’ve designed several generations of FCs, built out Amazon’s transportation network from scratch, and has developed significant talent throughout the organization.”
Clark pointed to his coworkers at Amazon, whom he described in a LinkedIn post as “brilliant people — builders who were intent on changing the world through their work,” as both a personal draw to him in joining as well as the company’s “secret sauce.”
Dave Clark, who joined Amazon in 1999, will leave the company to pursue other opportunities, effective July 1.
Amazon
Of his departure, Clark noted, “For some time, I have discussed my intent to transition out of Amazon with my family and others close to me, but I wanted to ensure the teams were setup for success.”
Neither the company nor Clark said what will happen next for the consumer business Clark is leaving, but both he and Jassy alluded to change on the horizons.
“We have a great leadership team across the Consumer business that is ready to take on more as the company evolves past the customer experience challenges we took on during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Clark said. “I leave knowing that the leaders in the Consumer business are world class and will take the next phase of Amazon to remarkable levels of success.”
Jassy said that “we still have more work in front of us to get to where we ultimately want to be in our Consumer business.” The CEO also added that “we’re trying to be thoughtful in our plans for Dave’s succession and any changes we make.”
Clark leaves at a critical moment for Amazon. The e-commerce giant’s sales have expanded massively during the pandemic. But of late it has struggled with spiking gas, labor and other costs, as well as inefficiencies from its fulfillment network, which it spent billions adding to during the pandemic only to experience a decline in sales from its pandemic highs.
