Bob Smith, chief executive officer of Blue Origin LLC, (L), and Dave Limp, senior vp of devices and services for Amazon.com Inc.
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Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin will replace CEO Bob Smith with outgoing Amazon executive Dave Limp, CNBC has learned.
Smith is retiring effective Dec. 4 and can remain with the corporate until Jan. 2 for the CEO transition, in response to notes to Blue Origin staff written by Smith and Bezos that were obtained by CNBC.
Limp joins Blue Origin at a key phase of the corporate’s multiple space projects. Blue must ramp production of its BE-4 rocket engines, return its space tourism rocket Latest Shepard to flight, and launch its next-generation Latest Glenn rocket for the primary time – in addition to deliver on a recently-won NASA contract for a crewed lunar lander.
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In a press release to CNBC, a Blue Origin spokesperson praised Limp as “a proven innovator with a customer-first mindset” who has “extensive experience within the high-tech industry and growing highly complex organizations.”
Amazon announced last month that Limp can be stepping down later this 12 months. As Amazon’s devices and services chief, Limp oversaw Amazon’s Alexa, Echo and Ring units, in addition to a few of its more experimental divisions like Zoox autonomous vehicles, and the Project Kuiper web satellite business.
Limp’s Amazon success
Dave Limp, Senior Vice President, Devices & Services, speaks at Amazon’s HQ2 in Crystal City, Virginia on September 20, 2023.
Eric Lee | The Washington Post | Getty Images
Limp’s resignation got here as a shock, as he spent greater than 13 years at Amazon. He became a top lieutenant of CEO Andy Jassy and a member of Amazon’s vaunted S-Team, a tight-knit group of senior executives across just about all of its businesses.
Moreover, Limp and Bezos worked closely together when the Amazon founder was still CEO. Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant and Echo smart speakers were pet projects of Bezos’, and Limp steered each of the high-profile launches.
Amazon has not announced a alternative for Limp yet, but Bloomberg and other outlets have reported that the corporate is anticipated to rent Microsoft product chief Panos Panay.
Smith’s few Blue Origin results
Billionaire American businessman Jeff Bezos walks with Blue Origin’s President and CEO Bob Smith after Bezos flew on the corporate’s inaugural flight to the sting of space, within the nearby town of Van Horn, Texas, U.S. July 20, 2021.
Joe Skipper | Reuters
Smith took the reins at Blue Origin in 2017 after 13 years at aerospace conglomerate Honeywell, with Bezos annually spending billions to remodel his space enterprise right into a sector powerhouse.
Under Smith’s leadership, Blue Origin heavily built up infrastructure across the U.S. – adding a key rocket engine manufacturing and testing site in Alabama, expanding its rocket production and launch facilities in Florida, and opening locations in California, Arizona, and Colorado.
Essentially the most high-profile success during Smith’s tenure got here in July 2021, when Bezos flew with the primary crew of Blue Origin’s Latest Shepard rocket to the sting of space and back.
But delays and setbacks marred each of Blue Origin’s major programs under Smith. Each its marquee Latest Glenn rocket and BE-4 engines – the latter of which can be needed for fellow rocket company United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan vehicle – are years behind schedule. It lost out on a lucrative round of Pentagon launch contracts in 2020, and desires to fly Latest Glenn to indicate the U.S. Space Force is may be awarded military missions within the upcoming round of awards.
Earlier this 12 months Blue Origin won a $3.4 billion NASA contract to construct a lunar lander for the agency’s astronauts. However the competition was a second-chance contest that NASA organized after Elon Musk’s SpaceX was the only real winner of the primary lander contract in 2021 – an award decision that Blue Origin took to federal court and lost.
Those schedule slips were compounded by allegations from current and former employees that the corporate had a toxic and sexist workplace. Smith addressed those claims by saying Blue Origin had “no tolerance for discrimination or harassment of any kind,” but the corporate suffered from an elevated turnover rate in 2021. Nonetheless, Blue Origin has since hired aggressively. Bezos on Monday noting noted the corporate had grown to greater than 10,000 employees, from around 4,000 about two years prior.
Read Bezos’ message to Blue Origin employees on Monday:
I’m excited to share that Dave Limp will join Blue starting December 4th as CEO, replacing Bob, who has elected to step aside on January 2. The overlap is purposeful to make sure a smooth transition.
Before I provide some background on Dave, I’d wish to take the time to acknowledge Bob and the numerous growth and transformation we have experienced during his tenure. Under Bob’s leadership, Blue has grown to several billion dollars in sales orders, with a considerable backlog for our vehicles and engines. Our team has increased from 850 people when Bob joined to greater than 10,000 today. We have expanded from one office in Kent to constructing a launch pad at LC-36 and five million square feet of facilities across seven states.
Our mission has grown too – we have flown 31 people above the Kármán Line, almost five percent of all of the individuals who have been to space. Flight-qualified BE-4 engines are able to boost Vulcan into orbit. Latest Glenn is nearing launch next 12 months, and, with our recent NASA contract, we’ll land Americans back on the Moon, this time to remain. Now we have also engaged and inspired tens of millions of youngsters and educators through our Club for the Future efforts. We have made tremendous progress in constructing a road to space for the advantage of Earth, because of each of you and Bob’s leadership.
I’ve worked closely with Dave for a few years. He’s the suitable leader at the suitable time for Blue. Dave joins us after almost 14 years at Amazon, where he most recently served as senior vp of Amazon Devices and Services, leading Kuiper, Kindle, Alexa, Zoox, and plenty of other businesses. Before Amazon, Dave had roles at other high-tech firms, including Palm and Apple. Dave is a proven innovator with a customer-first mindset and extensive experience leading and scaling large, complex organizations. Dave has an excellent sense of urgency, brings energy to every little thing, and helps teams move very fast.
Please join me in welcoming Dave and thanking Bob. Through this transition, I do know we’ll remain focused on our customer commitments, production schedules, and executing with speed and operational excellence. I sit up for the various exciting and historic milestones ahead of us!
Jeff
Read Smith’s message to Blue Origin employees:
Team Blue,
It has been about six years since I joined Blue Origin. During that point, our team, facilities, and sales orders have grown dramatically, and we have made significant contributions to the history of spaceflight.
With pride and satisfaction in all that we have completed, I’m announcing that effective December 4, I will probably be stepping aside as Chief Executive Officer of Blue Origin. I’ll remain with Blue until January 2 to make sure a smooth transition with the brand new CEO.
It has been my privilege to be a part of this great team, and I’m confident that Blue Origin’s biggest achievements are still ahead of us. We have rapidly scaled this company from its prototyping and research roots to a big, distinguished space business. Now we have the suitable strategy. a supremely talented team, a sturdy customer base, and a few of the most technically ambitious and exciting projects in the complete industry. We even have a team that cares deeply about its mission, legacy, and the way we contribute to the following generation and produce everyone right into a brighter future.
Jeff and I even have been discussing my plan for months, and Jeff will announce Blue’s latest CEO in a separate note shortly. I’m very excited concerning the operational excellence and culture of innovation this latest leader will bring to Blue. constructing on the muse we have created over the past few years.
I’m committed to making sure this transition is flawless, and everybody should know that Unwell all the time be on Team Blue.
Gradatim Ferociter.
Bob Smith
Correction: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized Dave Limp’s status at Amazon.
