Dave Clark, who headed Amazon’s global consumer business, announced he is resigning after 23 years with the company. The former Kentucky warehouse manager was in charge of the company’s retail operations, as well as its warehouse and shipping operations, which expanded as a result of the pandemic. Clark tweeted the announcement today along with an email sent to his team, writing that he had been talking about “switching out of Amazon” with family and loved ones for a while. Clark was only promoted to his current position last year, following the departure of longer-serving executive Jeff Wilke.
Clark’s resignation comes as the company faces its first quarterly loss in seven years, a union action and more warehouse space than it needs. Clark was in charge of the company’s logistics operations, which he expanded as demand increased during the pandemic. The company reported in April that excess warehouse space would contribute to $10 billion in additional costs for the first half of 2022.
The CEO regularly defended Amazon’s warehouse operations, even while criticizing the unsafe working conditions. After John Oliver investigated Amazon warehouses on an episode of Last Week Tonight, Clark tweeted that Oliver was “wrong with Amazon” and that the company was “proud of the safe, quality work environment” of its facilities.
Clark’s resignation will take effect in July, according to a regulatory filing from Amazon. A successor has not yet been named.
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