Here's What Jeff Bezos Said In Final Amazon Shareholder Letter As CEO

E-commerce and cloud services giant Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN just released its annual shareholder letter from CEO Jeff Bezos.

In his final shareholder letter as CEO, Bezos discussed Amazon’s latest accomplishments, value creation, its relationship with employees and its commitment to a green future. Bezos also leaves Amazon investors with a challenge to be unique and not conform to society’s expectations.

Value Creation: Bezos said Amazo created 500,000 jobs in the past year and the company now has more than 300 million Prime subscribers. In addition, he said Amazon Web Services finished 2020 at a $50 billion annualized revenue run rate.

Amazon generated $21.3 billion in net income in 2020, but Bezos said the company’s true value creation far exceeded its profits. In addition to that $21 billion in shareholder profits, Bezos said Amazon employees earned $91 billion in income and benefits last year. Third-party sellers on Amazon’s marketplace generated about $25 billion in profits. Finally, Bezos estimates Amazon Prime created $126 billion in value for customers and AWS created $38 billion in value for its customers.

“If each group had an income statement representing their interactions with Amazon, the numbers above would be the ‘bottom lines’ from those income statements,” Bezos said.

Related Link: Amazon Analyst Says Vote Victory Against Unionization Alleviates Regulatory Overhang

Amazon’s Commitments: Amazon employees at its warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, recently voted down an attempt to unionize. In the shareholder letter, Bezos said Amazon is committed to being the world’s best employer. He said fulfillment center surveys suggest 94% of Amazon employees would recommend the job to a friend, but Bezos wants that number to be 100%.

Bezos said Amazon is also committed to environmental responsibility and is on track to reach its goal of relying 100% on renewable energy by 2025, five years ahead of its original 2030 target.

Finally, Bezos urged Amazon investors to continue to work to be special.

“Being yourself is worth it, but don’t expect it to be easy or free. You’ll have to put energy into it continuously,” he said.

Benzinga’s Take: Regardless of what you think of Bezos on a personal level, he has been one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time. Bezos will be stepping down as Amazon’s CEO 17 years after he founded the company. In those 17 years, Amazon has grown to become a $1.7 trillion company, and Jeff Bezos has amassed a nearly $200 billion fortune that has made him the wealthiest person in the world.