Amazon completed its initial public offering in 1997 and later became one of the world's largest companies by market capitalization.
Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1994 as an online bookstore. The company expanded beyond books into a broad marketplace, logistics, digital media, devices, advertising, and cloud computing through Amazon Web Services.
Amazon’s market value rose as investors recognized the scale of its retail network and the profitability and growth of AWS. Market capitalization measures the value of publicly traded equity, so it differs from revenue, profit, assets, or the value of products sold through Amazon’s marketplace.
Amazon’s original public offering priced shares at $18 each before later stock splits. Another common mix-up is assuming Amazon is only a retailer; AWS is a major technology business, while Prime, advertising, and logistics also form important parts of the company.