Amazon operates the Amazon online marketplace and Amazon Web Services.
Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1994 as an online bookseller, and the company began selling books from its website in 1995. It later added electronics, clothing, household goods, groceries, and many other categories.
Amazon Web Services launched in 2006 and provides computing power, storage, databases, and other internet infrastructure. AWS became a major business separate from Amazon's retail operations and is used by companies, governments, and developers worldwide.
Amazon is sometimes described only as a retailer, but its businesses also include cloud computing, advertising, logistics, devices, and entertainment. Its shares are publicly traded, so its market capitalization reflects investor expectations about all of these activities rather than just online shopping.