Amazon began as an online bookseller after Jeff Bezos founded it in 1994.
Bezos incorporated the company in Washington on July 5, 1994, originally under the name Cadabra, Inc. It launched its website in 1995 as an online bookstore and soon expanded into music, video, electronics, and many other categories.
Amazon's marketplace, fulfillment network, Prime subscription, advertising operation, and Amazon Web Services transformed it into a diversified technology and commerce company. Those businesses helped Amazon become one of the world's largest companies by market capitalization.
A common mix-up is treating Amazon as only a retailer. AWS became a major cloud-computing provider, while Prime Video, logistics, devices, and advertising broadened the company's revenue sources. The company was renamed Amazon in 199 Amazon? Actually the name Amazon was adopted in 1994 before the public launch.