Amazon Appoints Head of Logistics as New AWS CFO

Paresh Jadhav

11 months ago

Amazon announced Thursday in a blog post that top logistics executive John Felton would assume leadership of its AWS cloud computing unit, replacing current CFO Richard Puccio who is leaving according to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal earlier this year.

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John Felton

Felton will replace AWS CFO Richard Puccio. According to reports in The Wall Street Journal earlier this week, Puccio intends to leave according to sources familiar with his intentions – however Amazon did not immediately respond when approached for comment on this development.

On Thursday, Doug Herrington, Amazon’s worldwide retail chief, acknowledged Felton would transition into his new position of senior vice president and AWS cloud computing CFO; Udit Madan would assume his former transportation vp role.

Felton will serve as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of AWS and be accountable for providing strategic business planning support, driving performance and accountability, budgeting forecasting external reporting and global balance sheet management. With cloud spending taking an ever-increasing share of IT budgets, finance teams play an essential role in helping their organizations tap the full value of AWS’ expansive portfolio – which requires changing how they track, review and reconcile spending as well as developing effective financial practices and governance policies to do this successfully.

Udit Madan

Amazon is widely considered one of the world’s most valuable brands and Fortune’s Most Admired Companies, boasting one of the highest customer satisfaction ratings of any company ever (J.D. Power). Employees at the company enjoy highly paid salaries while they’re widely considered an example for innovation, customer service excellence and social responsibility.

However, Amazon cannot escape significant difficulties. Their growth has slowed due to customers cutting spending due to rising inflation and concerns over the economy, while they also face regulatory threats; for instance they voluntarily started collecting sales taxes before states forced them to do so and adopted a $15 minimum wage before it was mandated by political groups or legislation. As a result, in coming years Amazon may face many questions over whether it can continue as one entity or split off into multiple smaller businesses.

Amazon’s CFO shake-up

Lucid Group, an electric vehicle startup, announced Monday that CFO Sherry House had resigned, effective immediately. Vice President and Principal Accounting Officer Gagan Dhingra will serve as interim CFO until an interim CFO can be identified.

Amazon announced Thursday that John Felton, its top logistics executive, is leaving for another job. Doug Herrington, its global retail chief, revealed in a blog post that Felton would assume new responsibilities as senior VP and AWS cloud computing CFO in his new position. Meanwhile, Udit Madan, their Vice President of Transportation was named as Felton’s replacement by Herrington.

GameStop, another struggling brick-and-mortar retailer, announced this week a CFO change as Jill Woodworth will resign and Liz Coddington from Amazon Web Services will replace her as CFO – another move by activist investor Ryan Cohen to shake up their C-suite and take control of its future.

AWS’s slowing growth

Amazon Web Services (AWS), one of its key growth drivers, is not expanding as quickly as some investors might like. Revenue increased just 12% year-on-year in 2023’s first quarter – much slower than Microsoft Azure at 29% or Google Cloud with 22% growth respectively.

CEO Andy Jassy acknowledged on a call with Jefferies analyst Brent Thill that customers were altering their spending by shifting away from on-demand cloud services toward commitments of one to three years and lower prices, according to Brent Thill at Jefferies. These moves are likely to continue.

But AWS still has room to expand. With massive data centers packed with computer servers and high-speed communications gear, its services are in high demand worldwide as companies seek alternatives to building or renting space elsewhere. Furthermore, AWS is making substantial investments into AI tools to assist companies automate tasks.