From Bookseller to Global Tech Titan
A Brief History of Amazon.com
Small Beginnings
Amazon was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Washington state, Amazon.com started out as an online retailer for selling books, relying on the value proposition that they could, “deliver any book to any reader anywhere” (Hall). While it started out as a bookselling company, Bezos wanted to emphasize that the business was a high tech company that, “was simplifying online transactions for consumers” (Hall).
Post-Establishment Success
In addition to this, after decades of success in the e-commerce world, the company has established a specific mission statement that places them on a pedestal in comparison to outsider companies. As an organization they believe that, “Amazon strives to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, Earth’s best employer, and Earth’s safest place to work” (Amazon). Essentially positing themselves as a premier company and expressing their commitment to providing a specified customer experience. In which they follow up this message with all of the services they have engineered to ensure customers feel what the mission is trying to emulate. Which, by following such a statement has led to a successful narrative that allows Amazon to be one of the top leading companies in the world.
According to the history of the Fortune 500 List, Amazon penetrated this prestigious group of organizations eight years after it’s inception, and within the next eight years, entered the top 100. Ten years after reaching top 100 status, Amazon currently sits at #2 on the Fortune 500 list as of 2020, right behind Walmart (Knowledgetics). You can see below Amazon’s entire history on the Fortune 500 list as described by Knowledgetics.
In Relation to the Issue
While this ranking is just a number based on opinion, it does represent the dominance and capabilities of the tech company that was born as a niche organization. It also is exemplifies the determination by CEO Jeff Bezos who has worked to establish himself alongside the enterprise that is Amazon. It shows his inability to view anything as an obstacle and tactically responds to a changing world to sustain corporate success.
This may be something to consider when they go through the judicial proceeding of the anti trust lawsuit. By this I mean that in my personal opinion, I believe they will be able to handle such an issue with ease and will not experience much of a hinderance.
References
Amazon.com, Inc. (n.d.). Our Positions. Amazon.com. https://www.aboutamazon.com/about-us/our-positions
Hall, M. (2023, October 27). Amazon.com. In Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Amazoncom
Knowledgetics. (n.d.). Amazon’s Rank and Fortune 500 List. Knowledgetics. https://knowledgetics.com/amazon-rank-and-fortune-500-list/
Interesting background information. Do you think that their ambitious mission statement and quick growth should have been addressed by the US government before 2023? What does them being sued now say about when the US government will step in on a tech company like this?
You make a good point, I think they are sort of looking for an issue to pursue with Amazon, and once they got a glimpse of something that may be “against the rules”, the FTC will take that and run with it. Also with that, it seems like Amazon is just trying to align themselves with their mission statement, and with more information this becomes apparent.
I never knew that Amazon began as a book selling company, that’s very interesting! I agree with you that Amazon would be able to handle the antitrust lawsuit without much difficulty. Amazon is a vey powerful company and the graph you included of the Amazon rank history is a great visual representation of that. You did a great job explaining this.
Thanks Shwetha! Their success story almost shows their determination and how they do not plan to slow down with their operations.