Amazon executive with wide remit to take one-year leave

​Amazon.com Inc on Wednesday said a top executive who oversees business development and digital entertainment would take a one-year sabbatical starting in 2020.

Jeff Blackburn, a senior vice president who in 21 years at Amazon has overseen deals, the online retailer’s television studio and growing advertising business, wrote in an email to employees that he was hoping to spend more time with his family.

“It’s never easy to find a good time for a break when always scaling so fast, but now feels like the right time,” he said in the email, which was seen by Reuters.

Amazon has yet to announce organizational changes as a result of the departure, which comes as video and music expenses grew 9 percent to $3.5 billion in the first half of the year. Not all Amazon executives who have taken sabbaticals have returned, partly reflecting how quickly the company changes during their absence.