Early Years of Amazon (1994-1997)
Amazon was founded on July 5, 1994, by Jeff Bezos in Bellevue, Washington. Initially, the company was called Cadabra, Inc., but the name was later changed to Amazon.com, Inc. in 1995.
Growth and Expansion (1998-2007)
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Amazon expanded its offerings to include books, music, and software. The company went public in 1997 and raised $54 million in its initial public offering (IPO).
- 1998: Amazon launched its marketplace platform, allowing third-party sellers to list their products.
- 2002: Amazon acquired Zappos, an online shoe retailer.
- 2006: Amazon launched its cloud computing platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS).