Amazon became the second U.S. company to reach a $1 trillion market capitalization.
Amazon crossed the milestone on September 4, 2018, about one month after Apple reached the same valuation. Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1994 as an online bookstore, but the company expanded into general retail, logistics, cloud computing, digital media, and consumer devices.
Amazon Web Services became especially important to the company’s financial story. Launched in 2006, AWS provides computing, storage, databases, and other infrastructure services to organizations worldwide. Its growth helped investors view Amazon as more than an online shop.
The company’s market capitalization reflects the value investors assign to all its businesses and future prospects. It does not equal the value of merchandise listed on Amazon’s website, nor does it measure the company’s annual sales. Amazon changed its legal name from Amazon.com to Amazon in 2024, but the familiar retail brand remains Amazon.