Online store giant Amazon is facing a critical period amid uncertain economic conditions. Even an analyst predicts that Jeff Bezos will return to lead the company he founded.
Michael Batnick, Managing Partner at Ritholtz Wealth Management predicts Bezos could come back to lead and improve Amazon.
According to him, Bezos will follow in the footsteps of Bob Iger, the former CEO of the Walt Disney Company who returned from retirement to replace his successor Bob Chapek.
"Jeff Bezos spent 27 years at Amazon and has been gone less than two. In 2023 he will follow in Bob Iger's footsteps and return to stabilize the ship," Batnick said, as quoted by MarketWatch, Thursday (5/1/2023).
As is known, Bezos is stepping down from his position as CEO of Amazon in 2021. Currently, this position is held by Andy Jassy, who previously served as SVP and CEO of Amazon Web Services.
After stepping down from Amazon, Bezos said he would spend his time on his charities and his other companies, including aerospace company Blue Origin and media outlet The Washington Post.
But that doesn't mean Bezos has completely disappeared from Amazon. The bald-headed man still wields considerable influence as the largest individual shareholder and chairman of the board of directors.
Amazon itself has just announced it will lay off more than 18,000 employees. Like many other tech companies, Amazon is hiring in large numbers during the pandemic to keep up with consumer demand for online shopping.
However, the company's growth began to slow down because consumers returned to choosing offline shopping after the pandemic subsided, as well as uncertain economic conditions that forced consumers and businesses to save money. In 2022, the value of Amazon's stock has even fallen by 50%.