Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ aerospace company, will have a new CEO before the end of the year. As reported CNBC, David Limwho currently serves as Amazon’s head of services and devices, will replace Bob Smith in office.
The firm has not yet confirmed the news publicly. However, the aforementioned media accessed internal emails in which both Bezos and Smith informed employees about this change.
David Limp will take over as the new CEO of Blue Origin next December 4. And although Bob Smith will leave his position on that same date, he will continue to be part of the company until January 2, 2024. The intention is for the transition between both managers to be as simple as possible.
This gives clarity to Limp’s departure as one of Amazon’s top executives. Last August, it had been confirmed that at the end of the year the aforementioned would leave his position at the e-commerce giant after just over 13 years. News that caused surprise, considering that it was one of the main sides of CEO Andy Jassyand who had led the teams in charge of products such as Echo, Alexa, Kindle and Project Kuiper, among others.
The truth is that David Limp will continue his career at Blue Origin, where he will have great challenges under the guidance of Jeff Bezos. The aerospace company must not only continue working on its efforts linked to space tourism, where it competes directly with Virgin Galactic. It should also expedite the development of New Glennits next space launch vehicle, as well as the engines BE-4 for ULA’s Vulcan Centaur rocket. And let’s not forget that the company has been selected by NASA to develop Blue Moonthe lunar landing module that will be used in the Artemis V mission.
Blue Origin changes CEO
With the arrival of David Limp, Bob Smith will close a journey of almost 6 years as CEO of Blue Origin. Under his command, the company underwent an expansion process that allowed it to be one of the first private projects to take tourists to the edge of outer space.
“Under Bob’s leadership, Blue has grown to several billion dollars in sales orders, with a significant backlog for our vehicles and engines. Our team has grown from 850 people when Bob joined to more than 10,000. Today we have expanded from an office in Kent [Washington] to the construction of a launch pad at LC-36 [Cabo Cañaveral] and five million square feet of facilities in seven states,” said Jeff Bezos.
The reasons for Bob Smith’s departure as CEO of Blue Origin have not been revealed. In his message to employees, the still CEO said he had discussed his future with Bezos in recent months. But he did not offer further details on the matter. However, it is speculated that delays in the development of the BE-4 engines and the New Glenn launch vehiclewhich will replace the current New Shepard, would have tipped the balance for a change at the management level.
“It has been a privilege for me to be part of this great team and I am confident that Blue Origin’s greatest achievements are still ahead. We have scaled this company from its research and prototyping roots to a large and prominent space business,” he said. Smith in his farewell email.
David Limp’s challenges
The arrival of David Limp will allow Jeff Bezos incorporate a man “of his kidney” into the management of Blue Origin. Although that doesn’t mean the new CEO won’t face significant challenges. Especially because he joins an industry in which he does not have much experience.
Although Limp was in charge of Project Kuiper, Amazon’s satellite internet, the scenario offered by Blue Origin is much more complex. Gaining a foothold in a sector as complex as aerospace is not easy, especially when SpaceX has gained so much relevance. To which must be added the interactions with other environmental heavyweights—Boeing, Lockheed Martin—, the Pentagon and NASA.
Let’s keep in mind that Bob Smith came to Blue Origin with 13 years of experience at Honeywell, an aerospace engineering and systems company. And although he was the architect of the company’s brutal growth, he could not avoid delays in its most important programs. Jeff Bezos understands that an executive like David Limp can be a breath of fresh air to give new impetus to your strategy.
“I have worked closely with Dave for many years. He is the right leader at the right time for Blue. […] Dave is a proven innovator, with a customer-first mindset and extensive experience leading and scaling large, complex organizations. “Dave has an extraordinary sense of urgency, brings energy to everything and helps teams move very quickly,” said the Amazon founder.
Now that David Limp’s arrival at Blue Origin has been made public, Amazon likely to rush to name successor. There is speculation that his place at the e-commerce giant will be taken by Panos Panay, who recently left Microsoft after 19 years.