Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has finally commented on the release of one of his employees from a Hamas hostage situation.

Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, an electrical engineer at Amazon Web Services (AWS), was held hostage for nearly 500 days.

Abducted during the October 7 attacks, he was released on February 15, amid the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas reached on January 19, 2025.

During his captivity, Troufanov's mother and girlfriend were released in November 2023, while his father was killed.

Jassy wrote to Amazon employees regarding the release on February 15, saying: "I’m incredibly relieved to share the news that our AWS teammate, Sasha Troufanov, who had been held hostage since the October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel, has been released from captivity."

Jassy added that the company has been working "behind the scenes" to support efforts for the Troufanov family's release, adding that they had not previously commented publicly for "fear that we would negatively impact their ability to be released or how they were treated in captivity."

Jassy finished: "Thank you to all who tirelessly advocated for his safe return – I share your gratitude and relief that Sasha and other hostages were released today. My heart goes out to everyone who has been impacted by the war and I continue to hope that we get on a long-term peaceful path."

That an AWS employee was being held hostage was revealed in May 2024. At the time, the New York Post published an opinion piece titled "Amazon’s shameful PR response to Hamas-hostage employee: Brand over his life," which speculated that the choice to remain silent was to protect the AWS brand, including noting that the names and faces of hostages were already public knowledge.

The decision was publicly defended by hedge fund manager Bill Ackman at the time, who wrote on X: "One of Amazon’s employees is being held hostage by Hamas. One would therefore assume that Amazon is doing everything it can to help, but it has said nothing publicly. One must therefore conclude that Amazon does not believe it is advisable to say anything about the situation. It must believe that speaking publicly is harmful rather than helpful." Ackman acknowledged that this was his speculation, and not the result of conversation with anyone at Amazon.

As of two days ago, Hamas had released 19 hostages as part of the ceasefire, and Israel has released 766 Palestinian prisoners.

DCD sends Sasha and his family their best wishes at this difficult time, as well as to any who have been impacted by the Israel/Palestine war.