The Amazon executive who spearheaded the online retail giant's effort to blanket the United States with fulfillment centers plans to leave the company next month as it begins to retrench its massive real estate footprint.
The Seattle-based company said Dave Clark, who serves as CEO of its Worldwide Consumer division, "has decided to leave the company to pursue other opportunities."
Clark's final day at Amazon is expected to be July 1, the company said in an email sent to employees from President and CEO Andy Jassy. Clark started at Amazon the day after earning his MBA from the University of Tennessee in 1999, back when the company had only six fulfillment centers.
Amazon also filed a one-sentence statement in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission about Clark's pending departure.
Clark's resignation comes about six weeks after Amazon drew significant attention in the commercial real estate industry when it said during its first-quarter earnings call that it started scaling back the expansion of its vast warehouse and fulfillment network, which has "excess capacity," as labor and energy costs rise and revenue declines as consumers dial down online spending.
Amazon also plans to sublease millions of square feet of warehouse and fulfillment center space and last week shelved early-stage plans for a distribution center on 193 acres outside of Austin, Texas. The retrenchment followed several years of Amazon occupying huge speculative industrial buildings across the country.
Sprawling Logistics Network
Amazon's logistics network totals 376 million square feet in the U.S. alone, with just under 110 million square feet under construction or planned as of March 31, according to MWPVL International, a Montreal-based supply chain and logistics consulting firm.
Jassy said Amazon plans to "be thoughtful in our plans for Dave’s succession" and any changes the company makes to its Worldwide Consumer division. "I expect to be ready with an update for you over the next few weeks," Jassy said in his email.
Clark, in an email sent to employees and posted to his personal Twitter account, hinted at his next move but did not offer details.
"I am a builder at heart — it’s what drives me," Clark said. "For me there has been no greater company to hone those skills than here at Amazon. As much as I have loved the ride, it is time for me to say goodbye to start a new journey."
Clark did not immediately respond to a message requesting additional comment sent via LinkedIn.
When Clark took over as CEO of the Worldwide Consumer division in January 2021, his salary was increased to $175,000 per year, the same salary CEO Jassy received last year, according to Amazon's 2022 proxy statement. Clark's total compensation last year totaled more than $56 million, with nearly $55.6 million coming from stock awards, the proxy said.
In his email, Clark said he had been contemplating leaving the company for a while.
"For some time, I have discussed my intent to transition out of Amazon with my family and others close to me, but I wanted to ensure the teams were setup for success," he said. "I feel confident that time is now. We have a great leadership team across the Consumer business that is ready to take on more as the company evolves past the customer experience challenges we took on during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also have a solid multi-year plan to fight the inflationary challenges we are facing in 2022."