Is Amazon a subsidiary of a larger company?

No. Amazon is the flagship brand of Amazon.com Inc., the parent corporation itself. The storefront operates inside the company's North America and International segments rather than as a subsidiary.

When was Amazon founded?

Jeff Bezos incorporated Amazon in July 1994 in Bellevue, Washington, and the amazon.com storefront opened to the public on July 16, 1995. The company went public on Nasdaq in May 1997.

Jeff Bezos founded Amazon and ran it as CEO until July 2021. He remains executive chairman and the largest individual shareholder. Andy Jassy has served as president and CEO since July 5, 2021.

What is Amazon's market position?

Amazon is the largest U.S. e-commerce company with approximately 38% market share, and it operates the largest cloud platform through AWS. The North America segment reported $426.3 billion in fiscal 2025 net sales, and total company revenue was $716.9 billion.

Does Amazon own the products it sells?

Only part of them. Amazon sells first-party inventory it purchases wholesale, but roughly 60% of paid units come from independent third-party sellers who list on the marketplace and pay fees for referrals, fulfillment, and advertising.

Retail & E-commerce

Who Owns Amazon?

Q: Is Amazon publicly traded?

Yes. Amazon.com Inc. trades on Nasdaq under the ticker AMZN. Jeff Bezos is the largest individual shareholder with approximately 9% of shares, and institutional investors including Vanguard and BlackRock hold most of the balance.

Amazon is owned by Amazon.com Inc., a publicly traded American technology company listed on Nasdaq under the ticker AMZN and headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Jeff Bezos founded the company in 1994 and launched the amazon.com store in July 1995. The marketplace generates most of Amazon's North America segment revenue, which was $426.3 billion in fiscal year 2025, and holds roughly 38% of U.S. e-commerce sales.

Parent Company

Amazon.com Inc.

Founded

1995

Status

Publicly Traded

Headquarters

Seattle, Washington, USA

Amazon Timeline

1994

Amazon.com Inc.

Parent company established in Seattle, Washington, USA

Company Founded

1995

Amazon

Founded by Jeff Bezos

Founded

mid rangemass marketGlobalOfficial Website

Who Owns Amazon?

Parent Company: Amazon.com Inc.
Ownership Type: Brand division
Company Type: Publicly Traded
Stock Ticker: NASDAQ: AMZN

Brand	Parent Company	Ownership Type
Amazon	Amazon.com Inc.	Brand division

History of Amazon

Founded: 1995
Founders: Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos incorporated Amazon in July 1994 in Bellevue, Washington, and opened amazon.com to the public on July 16, 1995. He chose books as the entry category because they were standardized, easy to ship, and available in a catalog larger than any physical store could stock. Within weeks the site was shipping to all 50 states and dozens of countries.

Amazon went public on Nasdaq in May 1997 at $18 per share. Through 1998 and 1999 it expanded into music, video, electronics, toys, and games, adopting the slogan that it would become the "everything store." In 1999 it launched Amazon Marketplace, letting third-party sellers list alongside Amazon's own inventory. That decision turned the site from a retailer into a platform and is the foundation of the business model today.

The company survived the dot-com crash while most e-commerce peers collapsed, reaching its first annual profit in 2003. Amazon Prime launched in February 2005, converting shipping speed into a loyalty program. Fulfillment by Amazon, opened to sellers in 2006, let merchants outsource storage and shipping to Amazon's warehouses, binding the marketplace to the logistics network.

Retail expansion continued through the 2010s. Amazon added grocery delivery through Amazon Fresh, opened its first physical Amazon Books store in 2015, and acquired Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion in 2017, instantly gaining roughly 500 physical grocery locations. Same-day and next-day delivery became standard for Prime members as the fulfillment network densified to hundreds of warehouses and delivery stations.

The third-party marketplace grew to dominate unit volume: independent sellers now account for roughly 60% of paid units sold on amazon.com. Amazon layered advertising on top of search results, building a business that generated approximately $56 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue and is now the third-largest digital ad platform.

Recent years brought heavier regulatory attention. The FTC and 17 states filed an antitrust suit in September 2023 over marketplace practices, and in September 2025 Amazon agreed to a $2.5 billion settlement over Prime enrollment and cancellation practices. For fiscal 2025, the North America segment, which houses most amazon.com retail activity, reported net sales of $426.3 billion.

About Amazon.com Inc.

What does Amazon own?
Amazon owns Amazon Web Services, Whole Foods Market, Ring, Twitch, Amazon MGM Studios, Alexa, Amazon Prime, Kindle, Fire TV, and Amazon Logistics. The company also owns Zoox, an autonomous vehicle company, and One Medical, a primary healthcare provider. Amazon has made over 120 acquisitions since its founding.

Is Amazon publicly traded?
Yes. Amazon trades on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol AMZN. The company has been publicly traded since its IPO in May 1997 at $18 per share.

Who founded Amazon?
Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in July 1994 in Bellevue, Washington. He initially started the company as an online bookstore. Bezos served as CEO until July 2021, when Andy Jassy succeeded him. Bezos remains executive chairman.

Where is Amazon headquartered?
Amazon is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, USA. The company's corporate offices are in the South Lake Union neighborhood. Amazon has major offices and fulfillment centers across the United States and internationally.

How many brands does Amazon own?
Amazon owns approximately 10 major brands including Amazon, AWS, Whole Foods, Ring, Twitch, Alexa, Amazon Prime, Amazon MGM Studios, Kindle, and Fire TV. The company has made over 120 acquisitions, many of which have been integrated into its existing operations.

Who owns Amazon?
Amazon is a publicly traded company with no single controlling shareholder. Jeff Bezos is the largest individual shareholder, holding approximately 9% of outstanding shares. Institutional investors including Vanguard Group, BlackRock, and State Street are among the largest holders. All shares carry equal voting rights.

What is Amazon's revenue?
Amazon reported FY2025 net sales of $716.9 billion, up 12% year over year. Net income was $77.7 billion, or $7.17 per diluted share. AWS contributed $128.7 billion in revenue, growing 20% year over year.

What antitrust cases is Amazon facing?
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and 17 states filed an antitrust lawsuit in September 2023 alleging Amazon maintains monopoly power in its online marketplace. The case is ongoing. The EU has also investigated Amazon's marketplace practices, and the Digital Markets Act imposes obligations on Amazon as a gatekeeper.

Founded: 1994
Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, USA
Company Type: Publicly Traded
Stock: NASDAQ: AMZN
Revenue: $716.9 billion (FY2025)
Employees: Approximately 1,576,000

Visit Amazon.com Inc. website

View full company profile for Amazon.com Inc.

Where Is Amazon Made / Based?

Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, USA
Manufacturing / Operations: United States

Amazon Categories & Tags

Ecommerce Online Marketplace Retail Marketplace Technology American Brand

Amazon Sustainability & Ethics

Amazon.com Inc. co-founded The Climate Pledge in 2019, committing to net-zero carbon by 2040, and is the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy globally. The retail operation has deployed more than 30,000 electric delivery vans from Rivian and is converting packaging to recyclable materials, eliminating most plastic air pillows and outbound plastic mailers in North America.

Critics note that delivery volume and data center growth have pushed total emissions upward in some years despite renewable purchases. Amazon's packaging reduction program is real but applies unevenly across marketplace sellers who use their own shipping materials.

The retail workforce has been the brand's largest ethics issue. Fulfillment center injury rates have drawn sustained scrutiny from regulators and labor advocates, and the company settled OSHA-related citations in multiple states. Warehouse unionization efforts, including the Amazon Labor Union victory at a Staten Island facility in 2022, remain contested through legal channels.

No consumer-facing sustainability certification applies to the amazon.com storefront itself.

Amazon Recalls & Controversies

The largest concluded matter is the September 2025 FTC settlement totaling $2.5 billion. The agency alleged Amazon enrolled millions of consumers in Prime without consent and made cancellation deliberately difficult. Amazon paid a $1 billion civil penalty and created a $1.5 billion consumer refund fund covering roughly 35 million customers, without admitting wrongdoing.

The broader FTC antitrust case filed in September 2023 with 17 states remains ongoing as of September 2026. It alleges Amazon maintains monopoly power through marketplace rules that punish sellers offering lower prices elsewhere and through tying Prime logistics to marketplace participation. The EU's Digital Markets Act separately imposes gatekeeper obligations on the marketplace, and Amazon settled earlier EU concerns about use of non-public seller data in 2022.

Counterfeit and unsafe third-party products have produced repeated regulatory attention. The CPSC has pursued recalls of hazardous products sold by marketplace sellers, and courts have in some cases held Amazon liable as a distributor. Product recalls at the brand level occur continuously given catalog scale.

Amazon Ownership: Pros & Cons

Advantages

+Fulfillment and delivery network creates a cost and speed advantage competitors cannot easily replicate
+Third-party marketplace generates high-margin fee revenue on roughly 60% of units sold
+Prime membership locks in repeat purchasing and feeds advertising, video, and grocery businesses
+AWS profits subsidize retail investment during competitive price periods
+Scale produces data advantages in pricing, inventory placement, and ad targeting

Considerations

-Ongoing FTC antitrust litigation creates regulatory risk to core marketplace practices
-The $2.5 billion Prime settlement demonstrated legal exposure in subscription design
-Thin retail margins depend on advertising and AWS income to remain profitable
-Seller complaints about fees, counterfeit enforcement, and search bias generate continuous friction
-Roughly 1.6 million employees create labor cost and unionization exposure at scale

Frequently Asked Questions About Amazon

Sources & Further Reading

Competitors to Amazon

These competing brands operate in the same categories and provide similar products or services. Compare key attributes to understand market positioning and competitive landscape.

Brand	Parent Company	Country	Founded	Market Position	Primary Market	Gender Target
Walmart	Walmart	USA	1962	Mass market	Global	All Genders
ACME Markets	Albertsons	USA	1891	Regional leader	United states	All-consumers
Albertsons	Albertsons	USA	1939	Market leader	United states	All-consumers
American Apparel	Gildan Activewear	USA	1989	Mass market	United states	Unisex
Balducci's	Albertsons	USA	1916	Regional leader	United states	All-consumers
Best Buy	Best Buy	USA	1966	Mass market	United states	All-ages