Jeff Bezos started Amazon in 1994 as an online bookstore before it became a market-cap giant.
Bezos founded Amazon in Bellevue, Washington, in July 1994, and the website began selling books online in 1995. Books were a practical starting category because a digital store could offer a far larger catalogue than a typical physical shop. The company later expanded into many kinds of merchandise and services.
Amazon’s market value grew as investors recognized several businesses within the company: online retail, third-party marketplace services, advertising, logistics, digital media, and Amazon Web Services. AWS became especially important because cloud computing generated a large and profitable enterprise business beyond retail.
Amazon’s original name was Cadabra, but Bezos changed it after deciding that Amazon sounded broad and ambitious. Market capitalization measures the value of Amazon’s publicly traded equity; it does not equal the value of goods sold through the marketplace or the company’s annual revenue.