Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market in 2017 and is often among the world’s largest companies by market capitalization.
Amazon completed its Whole Foods acquisition in August 2017 in a deal valued at approximately $13.7 billion. The purchase expanded Amazon’s physical retail presence and connected its online commerce, delivery, membership, and grocery businesses.
Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 as an online bookstore. It expanded into general merchandise, third-party marketplace services, logistics, streaming entertainment, devices, advertising, and cloud computing through Amazon Web Services.
Its market capitalization is not the same as annual sales. Amazon can report very large revenue because it sells goods and handles marketplace transactions, while its market value reflects investors’ expectations about future profits, growth, and competitive position across all its businesses.