Amazon in India

A

mazon.com is one of the world's largest technology companies that focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing software, and streaming. Amazon is considered one of the Big 5 tech companies in the United States with their 2020 revenue exceeding 386 billion dollars. Amazon was founded in 1994 by Jeff bezos in his garage in Seattle. Bezos served as Amazon's CEO before stepping down in 2021. As Amazon has continued its rapid expansion, this expansion has been met with some pushback and controversy. In 2019, Amazon came under fire when sellers in India had reported predatory pricing from the e-commerce giant, and that Amazon was not treating all sellers equally as they had claimed before.

People in India protesting Amazon and Jeff Bezos

History

Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in his garage in Seattle after leaving his job in finance. Bezos set out to build the world's first online bookstore. In the first 30 days of the company, Amazon.com sold books in 46 different countries, and in two months reached $20,000 in sales per week. The company went public in 1997 and raised $54 million, and within two years outgrew competitors despite analysts concerns. At the end of 1999, Amazon had shipped over 20 million items to over 150 countries. In 2000, Amazon changed the game by allowing independent sellers to sell items alongside Amazon's own listings. In 2003, the company turned a profit for the first time. In 2007, Amazon released its Kindle e-reader. In 2011, released the Kindle Fire its tablet. Amazon created a cloud computing and video streaming service in 2006 and a studio that develops movies and TV shows in 2010. Finally, they created a fine art marketplace in 2013. Amazon made two of its biggest acquisitions when it Acquired Zappos and Whole Foods. In 2015, Amazon beat out Walmart as the world's most valuable retailer. When Amazon's market cap reached $250 billion, Jeff Bezos became the richest man in the world.

Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos was born on January 12, 1964, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His mother, Jacklyn Gise Jorgensen, was a teenager when she had Jeff and his biological father, Ted Jorgensen left after being married for less than a year. When Bezos was 4 years old, his mother remarried Mike Bezos who is a Cuban immigrant. Bezos recalls messing with electrical contraptions around his house as a child. He moved to Miami with his family as a teenager and graduated valedictorian of his high school.

Bezos graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University where he studied computer science and electrical engineering.

After graduating, Bezos worked on Wall Street at firms including Fitel, Bankers Trust and D.E. Bezos became D.E. Shaw's youngest vice president ever. It was at this job that Bezos met his wife, MacKenzie. Ultimately, Bezos and his wife decided to leave their finance jobs and move to seattle to found Amazon.

In 2018, Jeff Bezos became the richest man in the world. During his tenure, Bezos purchased businesses like Zappos, Whole Foods and The Washington Post.

Bezos also started the Day One Fund which focuses on "funding existing non-profits that help homeless families, and creating a network of new, non-profit tier-one preschools in low-income communities." He later also created the Earth Fund to try and combat the effects of climate change.

In 2021, Bezos stepped down as CEO of Amazon to focus more on his space company, Blue Origin.