That’s not totally accurate. Amazon got started in 1995 and went public in 1997. They have somehow convinced Wall Street investors to invest but it’s always be viewed as a unique phenomena because Amazon does not make money.
The perception is that Amazon is all about profits. In actuality, they are all about sales revenues. But that doesn’t necessarily equate to the bottom line. Check out this article and in particular, the first line graph. You’ll note a huge increase in sales revenue from when the company started while profits started have remained relatively flat all of these years. What does Amazon do? A guide to understanding the e-commerce giant — Quartz
Whatever money that is coming in is being revinvested. Amazon’s stock has soared ever since the company went public, despite the low profitability. Bezos’s wealth comes from the percentage of stock he owns in the company, not because of his salary. The article above covers many of Amazon’s new interests - Logistics, AI and Robotics, Cloud Service capable of saving huge datasets, and a number of unusual ventures on the side. When people think of Amazon, they think about e-commerce, but it really is a technology organization. Most of us who shop online don’t realize that because much of the technology is targeted at businesses.
Ultimately, Bezos’s vision is to turn Amazon into the most customer-centric organization in this world and beyond (and yes, he has his sites on space exploration some day). So, I would have to respectfully take issue with your comment.
I believe that Amazon is all about people - what people need and want now and what they may need and want in the future. He’s hard on his employees, but he wants the best for them, too. It wouldn’t surprise me at all that he’s going to prolong this quest for a new headquarters until he can find a place with good housing, education, and infrastruction and people with technology skills. I’m not sure if those 40.000 folks that work in Seattle will be offered a chance to relocate. The new location is rumored to employ 50,000, and will contribute to the local economy in a similar fashion as Seattle ($38 million between 2010 and 2016) so the competition has been fierce to attract Amazon. I know it’s down to 20 cities with plans to announce sometime in 2018. No firm date has been given and there have been all sorts of theories based on references in advertising, visits to cities, code names and an active rumor mill. A lot of people think Amazon could end up in the DC area for a number of reasons. That might make for some interesting dynamics because Bezos is no friend of Trump’s.
So sorry to all for going off task, but I have a special interest in Amazon for a number of reasons. But as one who teaches business courses, I know how misunderstood the company is. People seem to think that it makes oodles of money. But it doesn’t. Whenever I have the opportunity to enlighten people about it, I jump on it.
So now, back to your originally scheduled program…