Amazon operates the world’s largest online retail platform and went public in 1997.
Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos in Bellevue, Washington, in 1994, originally as an online bookstore. It expanded rapidly into many categories, turning its website into a broad marketplace for products sold by Amazon and by independent third-party merchants.
The company held its initial public offering on May 15, 1997. Its shares were priced at US$18 each before later stock splits. Amazon’s long-term growth came from combining retail with logistics, digital media, devices, advertising, and cloud computing.
Amazon Web Services became a particularly important business because it supplies computing and storage infrastructure to companies and public institutions. Amazon is sometimes compared only with traditional retailers, but its market value also reflects AWS and other technology operations. Market capitalization rankings fluctuate, while Amazon’s 1997 listing and diversified business history remain fixed facts.