Amazon’s Finance Chief to Step Down This Year

Amazon.com Inc. said Tuesday that Chief Financial Officer Warren Jenson, who helped guide the online retailer to its first profit amid widespread doubt it could ever make money, would resign later in the year.

Jenson, who has served as CFO since September 1999, said he had taken the job with the aim of bringing Amazon to profitability, a goal the Seattle-based company hit last quarter with a surprise net profit.

Amazon did not give a precise date for Jenson’s departure, saying only that he would stay on for several months and help in the search for his successor. Amazon shares, which fell nearly 3.1% on Nasdaq on Tuesday, slid an additional 4% in after-hours trading to $15.30.

Jenson, 45, said he laid the groundwork for a possible departure about a year ago in a talk with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

“I sat down with Jeff and told him my first objective for the company was to work to drive to profitability. I told him at that point it would be a logical time to take a step back and assess the next set of challenges that I wanted to take on,” Jenson said.

The departure would not affect Amazon’s goal of generating positive operating cash flow in 2002, Bezos, who also is Amazon’s chief executive, said in an interview.

Amazon has said it aims to generate operating cash flow and possibly free cash flow for all of 2002.

Jenson tried to soothe the market’s worries by sounding a note of confidence in Amazon.

“For investors, I would say this company is in great shape. I don’t think I could have left had it not been in great shape,” Jenson said. “Investors should feel very comfortable with that.”

He declined to say what other opportunities he was interested in pursuing, saying only that once his successor was in place, “We’ll see what’s out there.”