Amazon, founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, grew from an online bookstore into a market-cap giant.
Bezos incorporated the company in July 1994, and it began operating as an online bookseller in 1995. Books were a practical starting category because an online store could offer a much larger selection than most physical shops.
Amazon later expanded into general retail, logistics, digital media, devices, advertising, and cloud computing. Amazon Web Services, launched in the mid-2000s, became a particularly important business because it supplies computing and storage infrastructure to organizations worldwide.
The company’s market capitalization reflects expectations about future earnings as well as current sales. That is why Amazon’s valuation grew dramatically even though retail businesses traditionally operate on relatively narrow margins. Amazon is often confused with Alibaba in global e-commerce discussions, but they are separate companies founded in different countries.