Amazon was founded in 1994 as Cadabra before becoming one of the world’s most valuable retailers.
Jeff Bezos established the company in July 1994 under the name Cadabra, a reference to “abracadabra.” After a lawyer misheard the name as “cadaver,” Bezos chose Amazon instead. The company began selling books online in 1995 from Bellevue, Washington.
Amazon expanded from books into general merchandise, logistics, cloud computing, digital entertainment, advertising, and devices. Amazon Web Services became a major profit engine and helped investors value the company as more than a traditional retailer.
The company’s early name is often confused with its launch name. Cadabra was the original corporate name, while Amazon became the name used for the online bookstore and the broader business. Its market capitalization reflects investor expectations across all of these operations.