Amazon.com Inc

Operating as Amazon, Amazon.com, Inc. stands as an American multinational tech firm specializing in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevue, Washington, the company initially launched as an online bookstore but progressively expanded its offerings to include diverse product categories, earning the moniker "The Everything Store". Today, Amazon is recognized as one of the Big Five U.S. technology giants, alongside Alphabet, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft.

The company manages numerous subsidiaries, including Amazon Web Services (AWS) for cloud computing, Zoox (self-driving vehicle division), Kuiper Systems (satellite internet provider), and Amazon Lab126 (computer hardware R&D). Other key subsidiaries include Ring, Twitch, IMDb, and Whole Foods Market, whose 2017 acquisition for US$13.4 billion significantly bolstered Amazon’s physical retail presence. The company distributes downloadable and streaming content via Amazon Prime Video, MGM+, Amazon Music, Twitch, Audible, and Wondery. Through Amazon Publishing, it publishes books; Amazon MGM Studios (including the 2022-acquired Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) produces/distributes film/TV content; Brilliance Audio and Audible specialize in audiobook production/distribution. Amazon also manufactures consumer electronics, notably Kindle e-readers, Echo devices, Fire tablets, and Fire TVs.

Renowned for disrupting industries through technological innovation and aggressive profit reinvestment in capital expenditures, Amazon is, as of 2023, the world’s largest online retailer, marketplace, smart speaker provider, AWS cloud service, Twitch live-streaming platform, and revenue/market share-leading internet company. In 2021, it overtook Walmart as the top global retailer outside China, propelled by its Amazon Prime subscription service (200 million worldwide subscribers).

As of 2024, it ranks as the second-largest private employer in the U.S., the second-largest global and U.S. firm by revenue, the 12th-most visited website globally (84% U.S. traffic), and the global R&D leader (US$73 billion spent in 2022). Criticisms of Amazon include surveillance partnerships, poor labor conditions, anti-union efforts, environmental impact, anti-competitive practices, censorship issues, and exploitative treatment of small businesses/suppliers.