Amazon operates AWS, the cloud division that helped make Amazon a global market-cap leader.
Amazon Web Services, commonly called AWS, provides computing power, storage, databases, networking, and other online infrastructure. It began offering services publicly in 2006 and became a major business for Amazon beyond online retail.
Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 as an online bookstore. It expanded into a broad marketplace, logistics network, digital media company, device maker, and cloud-computing provider. The combination of businesses helped transform Amazon from a retailer into one of the world’s most valuable public companies.
AWS is not a separate publicly traded company. It is a segment of Amazon, so its performance contributes to Amazon’s consolidated results and market value. Another common confusion is assuming market capitalization equals annual revenue. Market capitalization reflects the stock market’s valuation of the whole company, including expectations about future cash flows.