Emmett Shear, the CEO of Amazon’s livestreaming service Twitch, is stepping down from his position effective immediately, the company announced on Thursday.
Amazon acquired Twitch for nearly $1 billion in 2014. The platform is well-known as a popular livestreaming service for video gamers.
Following the acquisition, Amazon generally took a hands-off approach to managing Twitch, though it did provide Prime subscribers with various perks on the platform, including free games and in-game rewards.
Dan Clancy, the current President of Twitch, will succeed Shear as CEO. Shear noted in a blog post that Clancy has been a “close partner” throughout his tenure.
Shear explained that he is stepping down to spend more time with his newborn son, but he will remain with Twitch in an advisory capacity.
“With the arrival of my son, the time has come for me to focus my energies on building that tiny little startup family, and I’m ready to dedicate my energies there,” Shear wrote.
“Twitch will always remain part of my extended family, a community where I grew in so many ways alongside Twitch itself.”
Shear’s departure adds to a recent wave of leadership changes under CEO Andy Jassy. Earlier this month, Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff announced his resignation from the home security subsidiary.
Last year, executives responsible for Amazon’s Alexa and the hardware research and development group, known as Lab126, also left the company.
In July, public policy chief Jay Carney departed to join Airbnb, and 23-year Amazon veteran Dave Clark resigned as retail chief.
