Amazon is the e-commerce company founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 that uses the stock ticker AMZN.
Bezos started Amazon as an online bookstore in Bellevue, Washington, in July 1994. The company opened its website in 1995 and gradually expanded beyond books into electronics, household goods, groceries, digital media, and services.
Amazon became a major market-cap company partly because its business extends far beyond retail. Amazon Web Services, launched in 2006, provides cloud-computing infrastructure to businesses and governments worldwide. Advertising, subscriptions such as Prime, logistics, and devices are also important parts of the company.
A common mix-up is treating Amazon only as a shopping website. Its cloud division is one of the largest technology businesses in the world. The ticker AMZN identifies Amazon.com, Inc. on the Nasdaq exchange.