Amazon was founded in 1994 as an online bookstore before becoming a mega-cap technology company.
Jeff Bezos established the business in Bellevue, Washington, under the name Cadabra, Inc. It launched as an online bookseller in 1995 because books offered a very large selection that a physical store could not easily stock. Amazon later expanded into many categories, including electronics, clothing, groceries, and digital media.
Its market value grew alongside several major businesses. Amazon Web Services became a leading cloud-computing provider, while advertising, logistics, Prime subscriptions, and devices added further sources of revenue.
A common mistake is to describe Amazon as only a retailer. Retail remains central, but investors also value its cloud infrastructure and platform businesses. This diversified model helped Amazon join the small group of companies whose market capitalization exceeded $1 trillion.