The Covid-19 pandemic has been, and continues to be, the most disruptive force in global economics since World War Two, but throughout it one company has stood out: Amazon. To say the e-commerce giant has benefited is both an understatement and an over-simplification, but there’s no doubt Coronavirus has presented Jeff Bezos and his vast workforce with a challenge of epic proportions.
Of course, Bezos didn’t get Amazon to its current position on his own, and nor would he be able to navigate periods of extraordinary change and strain without serious heavy lifting from his core team. To that end, Bezos relies on what’s known as his S-Team (the ‘S’ stands for senior); a group of trusted leaders that meets regularly to discuss important decisions and dictate the direction of the retail colossus.
Though not every member of the team reports directly to Bezos, each is hand-picked by him, and understanding and trust lie at the core of the team’s function. When each individual within the S-team is comfortable with interacting and communicating with Bezos and each other, it assures stability at the very top of the company; a mechanic that’s more important now than at any other time in the company’s history.
So who is the team tasked with guiding Amazon through this most challenging of periods? From the $140bn man at the top, we give the lowdown on some of the leadership team’s prime movers.
Jeff Bezos — CEO of Amazon
The man himself, Amazon’s founder and CEO – Bezos is obsessed with providing an excellent customer experience through his e-commerce site. From the very beginning of the company in 1994, Bezos has been laser-focused on leading Amazon into the future by staying current and never stagnant in its leadership and guidance. One of the biggest indicators of this is the team that he has surrounded himself with through the years. As the CEO, Bezos personally has his hand in every major decision made for Amazon and remains actively involved in working with the S-Team to collectively steer Amazon in the right direction through good times and bad.
Dave Limp — SVP, Amazon devices, digital management
Limp oversees the development and business of all Amazon devices and hardware, including Kindle and Alexa. As the Senior Vice President of Devices and Services, he leads one of the fastest-growing branches of the company. Limp has BS degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics from Vanderbilt University and an M.S. degree in Management from Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
Alexa is the market leader in voice technology and has been a hit with Amazon customers since its launch in 2015. Limp has had his guiding hand in the process since the beginning and has worked closely with Bezos and other S-Team members to see it through to where it is now. Limp has said that Alexa is opening many windows of opportunity to grow unexplored branches of business for Amazon. Similar to what Kindle did with the company’s massive growth in the e-book market. Limp says, “The great thing about the Echo and Alexa is that customers love the product.”
Beth Galetti — SVP, Human Resources
Galetti has been the Senior Vice President of Human Resources for Amazon since 2016; She is responsible for overseeing the recruitment, development, and support of Amazon’s 750,000+ employees throughout the world. Prior to joining the Amazon S-team, Galetti held several senior positions with FedEx, where she began her career as a software developer. Galetti was the S-team’s first female member and has carried out significant work to solidify HR processes across the full breadth of this huge and complex company.
Neil Lindsay — VP, Worldwide Prime & Marketing
Lindsay leads Amazon’s brand and advertising efforts across the globe and is also in charge of Prime. Since its launch, Amazon Prime has spearheaded a retail revolution that has changed the shape of the retail world as we know it.
“My team includes device category business leaders with product management, marketing, sales and engagement responsibilities, advertising planners, media managers, creative leaders and a team of researchers and economists who seek business insights and measure the return on our marketing investments,” Lindsay says.
Mike Hopkins — SVP of Prime Video and Amazon Studios
A recent major addition to the S-team, Hollywood man Mike Hopkins served as chairman of Sony Pictures Television’s for nearly three years and joins Amazon to help grow the company’s entertainment branch. Hopkins’ recruitment represents a doubling down of Amazon’s efforts to compete in the video streaming war with Netflix, Disney, Apple, and other services. Amazon Prime has over 150 million subscribers, which puts Prime Video in a position to closely compete with its rival top rival, Netflix (167 million subscribers), as the company continues to produce great entertainment content. Although not all of Prime’s subscribers watch Prime Video, they do all have access and that alone gives it enormous power and potential.
Jeff Wilke — CEO, Worldwide Consumer
Wilke has served as Amazon’s CEO of Worldwide Consumer for several years. He leads Amazon Stores, Prime, operations, technology, and marketing.
Andy Jassy — CEO, Amazon Web Services
Jassy is the CEO of AWS. He led AWS in an $8 billion growth from 2017-2018 and continues to build a team of his own to oversee all big-picture aspects of AWS.
Brian Olsavsky — SVP & CFO
Olsavsky has been with Amazon since 2002; he has served in several roles with the company, but he most recently became Senior Vice President and CFO in 2015.
David Zapolsky — SVP & general counsel
Zapolsky joined Amazon at the end of 1999 as Associate General Counsel for Litigation and Regulatory matters; he was promoted to Vice President in April 2002.
Jay Carney — SVP, Corporate Affairs
Carney joined the Amazon team in 2015. Simply put, he is the company’s go-to PR guy.
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