[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] According to CNBC on the 9th (local time), Amazon, which lost to Microsoft (MS), the second-largest company in the industry, in the large-scale cloud project ordered by the U.S. Department of Defense, has appointed retired Army General Case Alexander, former director of the National Security Agency (NSA), as a board member.
According to the report, retired Army General Alexander, who served as the former NSA director, also served as the commander of the U.S. Cyber Command. He is currently working as the co-Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and president of the cybersecurity company IronNet Cybersecurity.
Alexander is expected to share his experience on Amazon's board, which consists of 11 members.
Amazon's recruitment of retired Army General Alexander, who has such a background, is notable as it came after losing the U.S. Department of Defense's "Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI)" contract competition.
JEDI is a project to modernize the Department of Defense's IT infrastructure by transitioning it to the cloud, with a budget scale of up to $10 billion (approximately 11.9 trillion KRW) over a maximum of 10 years, making it a mega project.
Initially, Amazon, the industry leader, was expected to win the contract, but MS, the second-largest company in the industry, ultimately secured it.
Amazon even filed a lawsuit contesting this outcome.
Amazon stated, "Alexander was appointed as a board member due to his highly qualified public policy experience," and added, "Alexander will comply with strict conflict of interest regulations related to government contracts while serving as a board member."
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