Updated! Greg Greeley, who helped create Amazon’s Prime membership program, is leaving the e-tailer after 18 years for a new role at Airbnb.
Greeley joined Amazon from Sun Microsystems in 2007 to oversee North American books and magazines. He went on to run Amazon’s European retail business, and by 2012 was in charge of international expansion.
The following year he took the helm at Amazon Prime, with added responsibility for the delivery experience and, later, global operations as VP of Amazon Prime Worldwide. More recently he shifted his focus to Amazon’s Whole Foods acquisition, to help the supermarket chain integrate Prime into its customer rewards program, CNBC said.
Greeley made his departure public last night in an a rare open message on LinkedIn, in which he credited a 1997 shareholder letter from Jeff Bezos — stressing customer obsession and the company’s long-term principals — with winning him over.
“Those who have read that letter know it speaks of employees joining with the desire to build something that matters to customers, something we can tell our grandchildren about,” he wrote.
He leaves for “a different challenge” — heading up Airbnb’s Homes unit — at the peak of his game, after reaching a series of Amazon Prime milestones last year.
See: An Amazon Primer In Prime (A Little Crowing Is Called For)
Greeley’s primary Prime duties had been assumed by Amazon worldwide marketing VP Neil Lindsay, CNBC said.
