Among the world's richest companies by market cap, Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994.
Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in Bellevue, Washington, in 1994. The company initially operated as an online bookseller and launched its website in 1995. It later expanded into many categories of retail, marketplace services, logistics, digital media, devices, and cloud computing.
Amazon Web Services launched in 2006 and became a major business serving companies, governments, and developers with computing, storage, databases, and other online infrastructure. Amazon's retail and cloud businesses are separate operating areas within the same public company.
Amazon is often described only as an online store, but that misses much of its corporate history and revenue structure. The company went public in 1997. Its market capitalization changes as investors value its future prospects, while sales, profits, and assets are separate financial measures.