Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is stepping down. The company today announced that Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Andy Jassy will take over this summer as Bezos transitions to an executive chair role on the company's board.

The news dropped just as the markets closed and about an hour before the cloud and retail giant is scheduled to discuss its fourth quarter of 2020 financial results.

Bezos said he will transition to executive chair of Amazon's board where he plans to focus his attention on new products and initiatives. “As executive chair, I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions,” he wrote in an internal letter obtained by CNBC.

Bezos now passes the baton to Jassy, who joined the company in 1997, and currently serves as the CEO of AWS.

“Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long as I have,” Bezos wrote. “He will be an outstanding leader, and he has my full confidence.”

Amazon will discuss the major announcement and its Q4 2020 earnings during a call at 2:30 p.m. Pacific time.