Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Amazon-Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company.

Amazon, a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, Washington, is the global leader in e-commerce. Since Jeff Bezos started Amazon in 1995, we have significantly expanded our product offerings, international sites, and worldwide network of fulfillment and customer service centers. Today, Amazon offers everything from books and electronics to tennis rackets and diamond jewelry. We operate sites in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, Canada, and China (Joyo.com) and maintain dozens of fulfillment centers around the world which encompass more than 17.5 million square feet.

Amazon.com is a US-based multinational commerce company. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, it is America's largest online retailer, with nearly three times the Internet sales revenue of the runner up, Staples, Inc., as of January 2010.

Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com, Inc. in 1994 and launched it online in 1995. The company was originally named Cadabra, Inc., but the name was changed when it was discovered that people sometimes heard the name as "Cadaver." The name Amazon.com was chosen because the Amazon River is the largest river in the world, and so the name suggests large size, and also in part because it starts with 'A' and therefore would shows up near the beginning of alphabetical lists. Amazon.com started as an online bookstore, but soon diversified, selling DVDs, CDs, MP3 downloads, computer software, games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, and toys. Amazon has established separate websites in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, and China. It also provides international shipping to certain countries for some of its products. A 2009 survey found that Amazon was the UK's favorite music and video retailer, and third overall retailer.

Type	Public (NASDAQ: AMZN) S&P 500 Component
Industry	Retail
Founded	1994
Founder(s)	Jeffrey P. Bezos
Headquarters	Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Jeffrey P. Bezos (Chairman, CEO, & President), Tom Szkutak (CFO)
Products	Amazon.com A9.com Alexa Internet IMDb Kindle Audible.com Amazon Web Services Endless.com A2Z Development Alexa.com
Revenue	US$ 24.509 billion (2009)
Operating income	US$ 1.129 billion (2009)
Net income	US$ 902 million (2009)
Total assets	US$13.8 billion (FY 2009)
Total equity	US$5.26 billion (FY 2009)
Employees	31,200 (2010)