Jay Carney heads to Amazon

Former White House press secretary Jay Carney is headed to Amazon.

{mosads}The top spokesman through a sizable chunk of the president’s first and second terms is taking on a new position as senior vice president for worldwide corporate affairs, an Amazon spokesman confirmed.

As head of the new department, Carney will be able to focus on both global policy and public relations, and he will split his time between Washington and the company’s headquarters in Seattle.

The news was first reported by Politico.

Carney left the White House last May. Before working for Obama, Carney was the spokesman for Vice President Biden and spent years as a reporter for Time magazine from Washington and Moscow.

The move provides some star status to Amazon’s executive roster and builds on a trend of former Obama administration officials turning to Silicon Valley and major Internet companies after leaving the White House.

Last summer, former campaign head David Plouffe took on a top spot at ride-hailing company Uber.

In moving to Amazon, Carney will abandon his role as a senior political analyst with CNN, Politico reported.

—This report was updated at 12:28 p.m.