Amazon.com, Inc. is an American conglomerate headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Jeff Bezos on July 5, 1994, as an online bookstore, Amazon went public after an initial public offering on May 15, 1997, during the midst of the dot-com bubble. The funds gained from the IPO allowed Amazon to grow quickly, making its first three acquisitions on April 27, 1998, less than a year after the company had gone public.
After the dot-com bubble burst on March 11, 2000, several companies that Amazon had invested in went bankrupt, with Amazon's stock price itself sinking to record lows. Despite Amazon's survival, the company made very few investments for the next several years, only acquiring two companies between 2000 and 2004. The company returned to making multiple acquisitions per year in 2005, focusing on acquiring digital retailers and media websites. Starting in 2011, Amazon began shifting its focus to buying technology startups to develop and improve Amazon Echo and grow its Amazon Web Services division.
Amazon has diversified its acquisition portfolio into several market sectors, with its largest acquisition being the purchase of the grocery store chain Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion on June 16, 2017.
Acquisitions
Number Company Country Acquired on Acquired for (USD) Adjusted for Inflation (USD) Used as or integrated with References 1 Bookpages 55,000,000 Amazon UK 2 Telebook 55,000,000 stock payment stock payment Amazon Germany 3 IMDb 55,000,000 IMDb 4 Junglee 250,000,000 5 PlanetAll 280,000,000 6 LiveBid.com 300,000,000 7 Accept.com 101,700,000 8 Alexa Internet 250,000,000 Alexa Internet 9 e-Niche Incorporated — — 10 Convergence Corporation 23,000,000 11 Tool Crib of the North (Online and Catalog Sales Division) — — 12 Back to Basics Toys — — 13 Leep Technology Inc. — — 14 MindCorps Incorporated — — 15 Egghead Software 6,100,000 16 OurHouse.com — — 17 Joyo.com 75,000,000 Amazon China 18 BookSurge — — CreateSpace 19 Mobipocket — — Mobipocket 20 CustomFlix — — CreateSpace 21 smallparts.com — — Amazon Business 22 Shopbop — — Shopbop 23 TextPayMe 3,000,000 Amazon Payments 24 Digital Photography Review — — Digital Photography Review 25 Brilliance Audio — — Brilliance Audio 26 Withoutabox — — 27 Audible 300,000,000 Audible 28 Fabric.com — — Fabric.com 29 AbeBooks — — AbeBooks 30 Shelfari — — Goodreads 31 Reflexive Entertainment — — Reflexive Entertainment 32 Box Office Mojo — — Box Office Mojo 33 Lexcycle — — Amazon Kindle 34 SnapTell — — 35 Zappos 1,200,000,000 Zappos 36 Touchco — — Amazon Kindle 37 Woot 110,000,000 Woot 38 Amie Street — — Songza 39 BuyVIP 100,000,000 BuyVIP 40 Quidsi 545,000,000 Amazon Prime Now/Amazon Fresh 41 Toby Press — — 42 LoveFilm 312,000,000 Amazon Prime Video 43 The Book Depository — — Book Depository 44 Pushbutton — — 45 Yap — — Amazon Echo 46 Double Helix Games — — Double Helix Games 47 Teachstreet — — 48 Kiva Systems 775,000,000 Amazon Robotics 49 Evi 26,000,000 Amazon Echo 50 Avalon Books — — Amazon Publishing 51 UpNext — — UpNext 52 IVONA Software — — Amazon Echo, Amazon Polly 53 Goodreads — — Goodreads 54 Liquavista — — Amazon Kindle 55 TenMarks Education, Inc. — — TenMarks Education, Inc. 56 ComiXology — — ComiXology 57 Amiato — — Amazon Web Services 58 Twitch Interactive 970,000,000 Twitch Interactive 59 Rooftop Media — — Audible 60 GoodGame — — Twitch Interactive 61 Annapurna Labs 350,000,000 Annapurna Labs 62 2lemetry — — Amazon Web Services 63 Shoefitr — — 64 ClusterK 35,000,000 Amazon Web Services 65 AppThwack — — Amazon Web Services 66 Elemental Technologies 500,000,000 AWS Elemental 67 Safaba Translation Systems — — Amazon Web Services 68 Biba Systems — — Amazon Chime 69 Orbeus — — Amazon Web Services 70 Colis Privé — — 71 NICE — — Amazon Web Services 72 Emvantage Payments — — Amazon Web Services 73 Cloud9 IDE — — Amazon Web Services 74 Curse, Inc. — — Curse LLC 75 Westland — — Westland 76 Partpic — — 77 harvest.ai 20,000,000 Amazon Web Services 78 Thinkbox Software — — Amazon Web Services 79 Do.com — — Amazon Web Services 80 Whole Foods Market 13,700,000,000 Whole Foods Market 81 Souq.com 580,000,000 Souq.com 82 Graphiq 50,000,000 Amazon Echo 83 GameSparks 10,000,000 GameSparks 84 Wing.ae 0 (subsidiary of souq.com) (subsidiary of souq.com) Souq.com 85 Body Labs 60,000,000 Body Labs 86 Goo Technologies — — Amazon Sumerian 87 Dispatch — — Amazon Scout 88 Blink Home 90,000,000 Blink Home 89 Sqrrl 40,000,000 Amazon Web Services 90 Ring 839,000,000 Ring 91 PillPack 753,000,000 Amazon Pharmacy 92 Tapzo 40,000,000 Amazon Pay 93 CloudEndure 250,000,000 Amazon Web Services 94 TSO Logic — — TSOLogic 95 Eero 97,000,000 Eero 96 Canvas Technology — — Amazon Robotics 97 Sizmek Ad Server and Sizmek Dynamic Creative Optimization — — 98 Bebo 25,000,000 Twitch Interactive 99 E8 Storage — — Amazon Web Services 100 IGDB — — Twitch Interactive 101 INLT — — 102 Zoox 1,200,000,000 103 Wondery 300,000,000 Amazon Music 104 Umbra 3D — — Amazon Robotics 105 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 8,450,000,000 Amazon MGM Studios/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 106 Art19 — — Amazon Music 107 Wickr — — Amazon Web Services 108 Veeqo — — 109 Strio.AI — — Zoox 110 GlowRoad — — 111 One Medical 3,900,000,000 112 Cloostermans — — 113 Spirit.ai — — Twitch Interactive 114 Fig — — AWS 115 Pellicano Italy — — — 116 MX Player — — Amazon Prime Video 117 Perceive — — 118 Viziotix — — 119 Bluush (Bee) — — 120 Axio — — 121 Pixwise — — 122 Feenix.ai — — 123 Rivr — — 124 Fauna Robotics — — 125 NLX — —
Stakes
Date Company Business Country % stake Value (USD) Adjusted (USD) Refs GeoWorks Technology 7% $5,000,000 $ Drugstore.com E-commerce 40%poes — — Homegrocer.com Grocery delivery 35% $42,500,000 $ Gear.com Retail 49% — — Ashford.com Retail 16.6% $10,000,000 $ Della.com Gift registry 20% — — Kozmo.com Delivery 21.7% — — Naxon Corporation 61% — — Pets.com Retail 54% — — Greg Manning Auctions, Inc. Auctioneering — $5,000,000 $ Eziba.com Retail 20% $17,500,000 $ Basis Technology Technology 11% — — Greenlight.com Car retailer 5% — — Altura International 20% $5,000,000 $ Daksh.com 11% — — Amie Street Music streaming — — — March 8, 2016/March 8, 2021 Air Transport Services Group Cargo airline 19.999% $131,000,000 $ Greenlight Financial Technology Inc Financial services — — — Embodied Robotics — — — More Supermarket chain 49% $280,000,000 $ SevenRooms Software — — — Rivian Autonomous driving 18% — — YES Network Sports television network 15% — — Anthropic Artificial intelligence — $1,250,000,000 $ Spotter Digital creator economy — — — https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/amazon-invests-spotter-digital-creator-economy-1236194916/
Divestitures
Date Acquirer Target company Target business Acquirer country/nationality Value (USD) Adjusted (USD) Refs Scholastic Back to Basics Toys Toy retail $4,750,000 $ Wikia, Inc. Curse LLC Gaming websites — —
See also List of largest mergers and acquisitions Lists of corporate acquisitions and mergers
Notes
References