Amazon operates the Prime retail and streaming ecosystem and was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994.
Bezos incorporated the company in Washington state in July 1994 and launched it as an online bookstore in 1995. The business soon expanded into music, electronics, clothing, household goods, and a vast third-party marketplace.
Amazon Prime began in 2005 as a subscription offering with faster shipping. It later added video streaming, music, reading benefits, and other services. Amazon’s cloud-computing division, Amazon Web Services, became another major source of revenue, but the parent company also remains a global retailer and logistics operator.
Amazon’s market capitalization places it among the world’s richest listed companies. Its shares trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol AMZN, and the company moved its headquarters from Washington to Arlington, Virginia, during the 2020s.