Flexport Grabs Top Amazon Executive

By Spencer Soper (Bloomberg) Dave Clark, who spent two decades climbing the ranks at Amazon.com Inc. to become its consumer chief, is joining logistics software startup Flexport.

Clark will be co-chief executive officer for six months starting Sept. 1, before taking on the job solo, the company said on Wednesday. Founder and current CEO Ryan Petersen will become executive chairman.

Clark, 49, announced his departure from Amazon last week. His exit came amid slowing online sales growth that has left the company with too much warehouse space. 

Clark joined Amazon out of business school in 1999, working to manage some of its earliest warehouses. As head of global fulfillment, he introduced robots into Amazon warehouses and took the lead in building a transportation arm, when partners like United Parcel Service Inc. and the U.S. Postal Service proved unable to handle surging online demand.

Clark was among senior executives whose compensation package was singled out by investment advisory firms that argued his pay should be better tied to company performance. Clark’s pay package was $56 million in 2021.

Founded in 2013 and based in San Francisco, Flexport provides software and other digital tools designed to streamline cumbersome logistics processes — consolidating shipments in cargo containers, say, or getting those items through customs — that often require manual data entry or a series of phone calls.

Bloomberg Beta, the venture capital arm of Bloomberg LP, is an investor in Flexport.

By Spencer Soper © 2022 Bloomberg L.P.