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Amazon is founded
Jeff Bezos and his wife open an online bookstore in Seattle. Bezos finances the company with $10,000 from his own pocket. -
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The development of Amazon
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Amazon goes public
Amazon goes public at $18 per share, giving it a valuation of $300 million. -
A second distribution facility opens
Amazon opens a second distribution center in New Castle, Delaware, in order to serve customers on the East Coast. -
Amazon expands into music
Amazon expands its offerings and starts selling CDs and DVDs. -
Amazon secures "1-Click" patent
Amazon patents the ability to purchase an item online with the click of a mouse. Called 1-Click, the technology gives the company an early advantage by prompting customers to buy more and allowing the company to collect their data. -
Amazon launches 3rd party seller marketplace
Amazon allows third-party sellers to hawk used merchandise in what it called zShops (now known as the Marketplace) -
Amazon starts selling clothing
Amazon announces a partnership with several major clothing companies to offer 400 apparel brands in its online store. -
Amazon launches web hosting business
The company starts to generate extra income by licensing its platform to other e-commerce sites, like Borders.com and Target.com. -
Amazon enters China
Amazon enters the Chinese market by buying Joyo, the largest online seller of electronics and books in China -
Amazon Prime launches
a membership offering free two-day shipping within the contiguous United States on all eligible purchases for a flat annual fee of $79. -
Launch of Amazon music and Kindle
Amazon launches its digital music service. The company also debuts its Kindle e-reader in this year. -
Amazon acquires audiobooks company Audible
Amazon pays $300 million for Audible, which comes with a library of 80,000 programs in the United States and Europe. -
Amazon acquires shoe shopping site Zappos
Amazon buys online shoe retailer Zappos in an all-stock deal worth nearly $900 million. -
Amazon acquires robotics company Kiva Systems
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Amazon launches in India
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Amazon unveils its first smartphone
Amazon releases the Fire Phone, entering the smartphone market. -
Amazon opens its first physical bookstore
The store's opening is meant to market Amazon's growing list of electronic devices as much as it is to sell books. -
Amazon acquires Whole Foods
After struggling for years in the intensely competitive grocery delivery business, Amazon ups the ante and purchases Whole Foods' 471 stores for $13.7 billion. -
Amazon announces its search for a second headquarters
Amazon began search for Amazon HQ2, a second company headquarters to house up to 50,000 employees. -
Amazon launches Amazon Go
Amazon opens a cashier-less grocery store (Amazon Go) to the public. -
Amazon reaches a $1 trillion market cap
Amazon's stock price rises enough to make the company briefly worth $1 trillion. It's the second company to pass that threshold, after Apple reached it earlier in the year. -
Amazon marks 25 years in business
At the quarter-century mark, Amazon has 647,500 employees, occupies 288.4 million square feet of real estate, and accounts for nearly half of online retail in the United States. -
Amazon's sales and profits surge during pandemic
Amazon said its sales grew 37% compared to the same period last year, to $96.1 billion, and profit increased 197% to $6.3 billion. -
Jeff Bezos announces plan to step down as Amazon CEO
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will step down from his role as chief executive later this year and transition to the role of executive chair.