Amazon was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos and launched Amazon Web Services in 2006.
Bezos started the business as an online bookstore, but Amazon soon expanded into music, video, electronics, household goods, and many other categories. Its marketplace also enabled independent sellers to reach customers through Amazon’s infrastructure.
Amazon Web Services, commonly called AWS, began offering public cloud services in 2006. It became a major business in its own right, providing computing power, storage, databases, and other tools to organizations worldwide. A common mix-up is treating Amazon only as a retailer: its cloud-computing division, advertising operation, logistics network, and subscription services all contribute to its scale. Amazon’s market capitalization has repeatedly placed it among the world’s most valuable companies.