AMAZON

THE EVERYTHING COMPANY

By John Simons / Seattle

Andy Jassy, who speaks in quiet tones and moves through Amazon’s Seattle headquarters in jeans, untucked button-downs, and sneakers, appears to be the polar opposite of his predecessor, who over the years transformed into a larger-than-life billionaire. But now it’s Jassy who’s nevertheless managing an ever expanding empire.

With a $1.7 trillion valuation and a global workforce of 1.6 million, Amazon’s reach is nothing short of colossal. It delivers next-day provisions to your doorstep and serves up millions of daily video streams that will soon include live NFL games and a new Lord of the Rings series. Amazon Web Services—the biggest cloud-computing provider on the planet—powers myriad other companies, including its biggest streaming competitor, Netflix. And then there’s Amazon’s global logistics business, its brick-and-mortar stores (including Whole Foods), and a telemedicine service—not to mention Amazon Games and Amazon Music.

What’s next? Where does it stop? Does Amazon make sense as a single company? Jassy, 54, has been grappling with these questions since taking over as chief executive last summer. Where some may see a chaotic conglomeration of dissimilar businesses, Jassy—Jeff Bezos’ handpicked successor—says he sees one company, unified by a single purpose, with no end to its potential expansion. “There are businesses that we just haven’t started yet that have, I think, a real opportunity to change what’s possible,” says Jassy, who recently spoke to TIME about what drives him—and Amazon—to keep reaching.

What’s it like taking over for such an iconic founder and leader? And how are you able to put your own stamp on how the company is run?

I have an incredible amount of respect for Jeff, but I haven’t thought of this opportunity in the