Amazon created AWS and acquired Whole Foods Market in 2017.
Amazon Web Services began offering cloud services in 2006. AWS turned infrastructure such as computing power, storage, and databases into on-demand services that customers could rent over the internet. The business became a major source of Amazon’s operating income and an important part of its market valuation.
Amazon announced its acquisition of Whole Foods Market in 2017 for about $13.7 billion, including assumed debt. The deal expanded Amazon’s physical retail presence and connected its technology, delivery, and grocery ambitions with an established supermarket chain.
Amazon is often described only as an online retailer, but its businesses also include cloud computing, advertising, streaming, devices, logistics, and grocery retail. Those segments help explain why its market capitalization is not based solely on shopping revenue.