The company, launched in the garage of its founder, is now worth 1.700 billion dollars on the stock market and employs more than 800,000 people in the United States. After 27 years at the head of Amazon, Jeff Bezos is leaving his post of general manager on Monday, July 5 . The richest man in the world is not going far, however, as he will remain executive chairman of the board of directors.

At 57, Jeff Bezos passes the baton to his lieutenant Andy Jassy so that he can devote himself to other projects. The businessman must thus fly into space on July 20 on board  the New Shepard rocket , designed by his company Blue Origin . He will travel alongside his brother Mark Bezos,  Wally Funk  and  the winner of an auction , whose identity has not yet been revealed.

When announcing his departure  last February, Jeff Bezos also indicated that he wanted to devote more time to philanthropic causes, despite the latter having long been considered one of the least philanthropic billionaires of his generation, and at Washington Post , an American daily that he bought in 2013. Last year, he notably founded the  Bezos Earth Found , or Bezos Fund for the Earth, pledging to donate 10 billion dollars to fight against global warming .