Dave Limp had only one question for Jeff Bezos when he interviewed last year to become CEO of Blue Origin, the billionaire’s space venture.“Jeff, is Blue Origin a hobby or a business?” Limp asked.
After 14 years as a senior Amazon executive, Limp told CNBC he made it clear to Bezos that he wasn’t interested in leading Blue Origin if the nearly 25-year-old venture wasn’t intended to be a serious company.
Limp admitted that it took some convincing from Bezos for him to make the move over to the space sector. “My initial reaction was: It’s not the right role for me because I’m not an aerospace engineer,” he said. But he decided to take the leap of faith.“Jeff felt that [Blue Origin] needed manufacturing expertise; it needed decisiveness; it needs a little bit of energy,” Limp said.
Limp has now been the CEO of Blue Origin for nine months and counting. He took the reins from prior leadership who had widely expanded the company’s workforce and infrastructure but had fallen years behind on several major programs and lost competitions for key government contracts.
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Dave Limp had only one question for Jeff Bezos when he interviewed last year to become CEO of Blue Origin, the billionaire’s space venture.“Jeff, is Blue Origin a hobby or a business?” Limp asked.
After 14 years as a senior Amazon executive, Limp told CNBC he made it clear to Bezos that he wasn’t interested in leading Blue Origin if the nearly 25-year-old venture wasn’t intended to be a serious company.
Limp admitted that it took some convincing from Bezos for him to make the move over to the space sector. “My initial reaction was: It’s not the right role for me because I’m not an aerospace engineer,” he said. But he decided to take the leap of faith.“Jeff felt that [Blue Origin] needed manufacturing expertise; it needed decisiveness; it needs a little bit of energy,” Limp said.
Limp has now been the CEO of Blue Origin for nine months and counting. He took the reins from prior leadership who had widely expanded the company’s workforce and infrastructure but had fallen years behind on several major programs and lost competitions for key government contracts.
More: [https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/05/blue-origin-ceo-dave-limp-brings-urgency-to-jeff-bezos-space-company.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/05/blue-origin-ceo-dave-limp-brings-urgency-to-jeff-bezos-space-company.html)
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