Amazon CEO Andy Jassy sent a message to employees saying he was “incredibly relieved” that Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov was released from Hamas captivity after being held hostage for nearly 500 days.
“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 wrote in a message to employees.
Jassy says that the company had a team of experts working with Troufanov’s family “behind the scenes” to secure his release. The exec explained that Amazon “painfully” could not comment on Troufanov’s abduction publicly “for fear that we would negatively impact their ability to be released or how they were treated in captivity.”
Amazon faced criticism in May 2024 when it was revealed that Troufanov worked for the company, as many noted that the company hadn’t said anything publicly. Some at the time speculated that Amazon was keeping quiet to protect itself and its brand. However, billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, a vocal supporter of Israel, gave the online shopping giant the benefit of the doubt.
Troufanov was working at Amazon Web Services as an electrical engineer when he was kidnapped during Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attacks. He was taken hostage with his mother, grandmother and girlfriend, all of whom were released in November 2023 while he remained in captivity. Troufanov’s father was killed during the attacks.
“It’s been an extremely trying time for everybody who knows and cares for Sasha — a lot of angst and feelings of helplessness. But, it can’t approach what Sasha and his family have been through, and we will continue to support them and do everything we can to help them heal,” Jassy wrote in his February 2025 message. He also said that his “heart goes out to everyone impacted by the war” and expressed hope that there would be a “long-term peaceful path.”
On Saturday, Troufanov was released alongside Iair Horn and Sagui Dekel-Chen, who is an American citizen. However, this almost did not happen as days before their release, Hamas threatened to delay it over alleged ceasefire violations by Israel.
President Donald Trump then said Israel should “let all hell break out” if Hamas did not release all the remaining hostages by 12 p.m. eastern on Saturday. The terror group eventually walked back its threat on Thursday, saying the release would go on as planned.
After more than 15 months of war, on Jan. 19, Israel and Hamas entered a ceasefire deal in which 33 hostages are expected to be released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
