- Former top Amazon executive Dave Clark will become CEO of supply-chain startup Flexport.
- Clark announced he was resigning from Amazon after 23 years at the company on Friday.
- Flexport is one of the largest logistics startups in the world and was recently valued at $8 billion.
The CEO of Amazon's consumer business, Dave Clark, has a new job lined up for when he leaves: lending his expertise to an up-and-coming supply-chain startup.
On Wednesday, Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen announced on Twitter that Clark would be joining him as a co-CEO of the company in September. Petersen said that he plans to take a step back into an executive chairman role and the former Amazon executive will become the sole CEO of the company after a transition period of about six months.
The news comes after Clark announced on Friday that he would be resigning from his role at Amazon on July 1 after 23 years at the company. At the time, the executive said he wanted to help build something new.
"As much as I have loved the ride, it is time for me to say goodbye to start a new journey," Clark said in an email to employees, which he shared on Twitter. "For some time, I have discussed my intent to transition out of Amazon and with my family and others close to me, but I wanted to ensure the teams were set up for success. I feel confident that time is now."
Flexport, founded in 2013, has grown to become one of the world's largest logistics startups, encompassing 2,000 employees across 18 different offices. The software company's revenue reached $3 billion last year. In February, the startup was valued at $8 billion in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz and MSD Partners.
Petersen told Forbes he had been searching for a new CEO for his company over the past few months as he feared his skills would not be enough to allow the company to reach its full potential.
"There's a perfect complement of skillsets," Petersen told Forbes. "Mine are much more creative, zero-to-one founder time, and Dave is the supreme executor and a legend in the supply chain world."
Insider previously reported that Clark's resignation may have been motivated by a series of missteps, including warehouse overexpansion, as well as a tense relationship with the company's new CEO, Andy Jassy. Clark told Forbes his decision was driven purely by his desire to move to a smaller company and build something new.
Clark said on LinkedIn that he sees the supply chain as a vital and new arena for tech companies to conquer.
"The supply chain has entered everyday national discourse for all the wrong reasons. Put simply, the United States supply chain suffers from a significant fragmentation of technology and process," Clark wrote. "It is an area where few technology companies have dared to tread because of the vast array of regulatory rules, intimidating geographical distances, and siloed network of providers," he added.
