Amazon became the first company built around online retail to reach a US$1 trillion market capitalization.
Amazon crossed the US$1 trillion mark in September 2018, shortly after Apple reached the same milestone. The company began as an online bookstore in 1994 and expanded into a broad marketplace selling goods, digital media, devices, groceries, and business services.
Amazon Web Services became a major part of the company’s financial story. Its cloud-computing business supplied infrastructure and software services to organizations worldwide, while Prime subscriptions and logistics investments strengthened the consumer business. Investors therefore valued Amazon as more than a conventional retailer.
The milestone is sometimes described simply as Amazon becoming the second company to reach US$1 trillion. That wording refers to the overall market, where Apple came first. Amazon’s distinctive significance was reaching the mark despite originating in online commerce, an industry traditionally associated with thin retail margins.