By Matt Day
Andy Jassy usually starts his keynote at Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud-computing trade show with what amounts to a tedious infomercial for corporate software.
But last December, at an event held virtually rather than in a Las Vegas ballroom, the Amazon Web Services boss did something different: He talked about society. After acknowledging the tragedy of the coronavirus pandemic, Jassy called out the killings of three Black Americans that had sparked unprecedented protests across the country.
“The reality is for the last several hundred years, the way we treated Black people in this country is disgraceful and something that has to change,” he said.
Jassy, who succeeds Jeff Bezos as Amazon’s chief executive officer on July 5, is steeped in the company’s corporate religion: Put customers first, move fast, be frugal. He shares his boss’s competitive streak and mistrust of conventional wisdom.
But the 53-year-old executive is no Bezos clone. Known for piercing questions that cut to the heart of the…
