Amazon, founded in 1994, grew from an online bookstore into a global cloud and e-commerce giant.
Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in Bellevue, Washington, in July 1994, originally under the name Cadabra. The business began as an online bookstore because books offered a large selection that was difficult for a physical shop to stock. Amazon opened its website to customers in 1995.
The company expanded into many retail categories and developed logistics, marketplace services, digital media, devices, and subscriptions. Amazon Web Services, launched in the mid-2000s, became a major cloud-computing business serving companies, governments, and developers.
Amazon’s market capitalization is therefore tied to several businesses rather than retail alone. A common mistake is to treat Amazon Web Services as a separate public company; it is a segment within Amazon.com, Inc. The company’s stock trades publicly under the ticker AMZN.