- Jeff Bezos left Amazon to focus full-time on his rocket firm, Blue Origin, and urgently compete with SpaceX.
- He said that simultaneously running the e-commerce giant he founded and a space company wasn’t feasible in the long term.
- Now Bezos is all in on achieving liftoff for Blue Origin following a September failure ahead of a relaunch.
Jeff Bezos says he stepped down as Amazon’s CEO in 2021 primarily to devote himself full-time to his other major venture – rocket firm Blue Origin.
Competing with SpaceX
In his first interview since departing the e-commerce giant he founded, Bezos told podcaster Lex Fridman that Blue Origin required more of his capacity to move faster against rivals like SpaceX.
“I’ve turned the CEO role over, and the primary reason I did that is so that I could spend time on Blue Origin, adding some energy, some sense of urgency,” explained the billionaire.
No Bandwidth for Both
Bezos started Amazon in 1994 and built it into a trillion-dollar company. But he says managing that while running a rocket company wasn’t feasible long-term.
“When I was the CEO of Amazon, my point of view on this is, ‘If I’m the CEO of a publicly traded company, it’s going to get my full attention,'” he remarked.
Preparing Relaunch
Now Bezos is all in on achieving liftoff for Blue Origin, preparing to relaunch its New Shepard rocket next week after a September failure.
“I am working so hard, and I’m mostly enjoying it, but there are also some very painful days,” Bezos stated about the endeavor. “Most of my time is spent on Blue Origin, and I’m deeply involved here now.”
It’s a high-stakes space race, but Bezos knew reaching the stars would require cleared skies from his Amazon responsibilities.
