Amazon Founded
Jeff Bezos founded Amazon as an online bookstore in his garage
July 05, 1994
Starting With Books in a Garage
Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos on July 5, 1994, in Bellevue, Washington, initially operating out of his garage. Bezos had left a well-paying job at a hedge fund in New York to pursue his idea for an online bookstore, driving across the country with his wife MacKenzie while she took notes on the business plan. He chose books because there were millions of titles in existence, far more than any physical store could ever stock. The company launched its website in July 1995, and within 30 days had sold books to customers in all 50 U.S. states and 45 countries. Bezos and his employees packed orders themselves and drove them to the post office.
From Bookstore to Everything Store
Amazon expanded beyond books in the late 1990s, adding music, video, and electronics. Bezos described his vision as building "the everything store," a place where customers could buy virtually any product. The company went public in May 1997, just two years after launch, at $18 per share. Amazon survived the dot-com crash that wiped out many of its competitors by focusing relentlessly on customer experience, low prices, and long-term investment over short-term profit. The introduction of Amazon Prime in 2005, offering fast free shipping for an annual fee, transformed customer loyalty and purchase behavior across e-commerce.
A Company That Reshaped Commerce and Technology
Amazon Web Services, launched in 2006, became an unexpected but enormous source of profit, providing cloud computing infrastructure to businesses and governments worldwide. AWS now powers a significant portion of the internet. Amazon also entered the entertainment industry with Amazon Studios and the smart speaker market with the Echo and Alexa. Bezos stepped down as CEO in July 2021, passing the role to Andy Jassy. Amazon has been consistently criticized for its labor practices and market power, while being credited with dramatically lowering prices and raising consumer expectations for delivery speed. Today it is one of the most valuable companies on earth.