Amazon is the largest online retailer in the world. Founded by Jeff Bezos, it has grown into a multinational company with billions of dollars in revenue. So what does this mean for Black people?
Is Amazon black owned? Amazon is not black owned and doesn’t have any black board members or executives at all.
Bezos founded the company in 1994 from his garage with an initial investment of $300 million from angel investors. This startup began as an online bookstore, but soon the company developed other products which are now more prevalently sold today.
In addition to their online retail platform, they offer streaming media, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence which powers Alexa devices.
Who owns Amazon?
Jeff Bezos, the founder, and CEO of Amazon, Inc. is the owner of The Washington Post and Blue Origin. Which makes it very clear that no amazon is not black-owned.
Warren Buffet holds a substantial stake in Amazon as well as many other companies such as; American Express, Apple, AT&T, Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, General Motors, IBM, Kraft Heinz, Southwest Airlines, and Wells Fargo.
As of December 2017, Amazon has a market capitalization of $463 billion.
Overview of Amazon as a company
Amazon’s business model is “proactive, agile and tightly integrated”. This means that they are proactive in identifying opportunities where the company can improve on expenses like cost-per-click advertising or shipping, agile to quickly implement those changes, and tightly integrated to make sure all aspects of the company are working together towards these goals.
The main way Amazon has achieved this is through maintaining an internal database called “Vend” that keeps track of every item sold on the site. This allows for more efficient inventory management and makes it easier to keep track of customer preferences for targeted marketing campaigns.
Another aspect is their use of technology which allows them to be more efficient in their delivery process. They built Prime Air – a program that uses drones to deliver packages in select urban areas, self-driving trucks for last-mile deliveries, and an air transport system using normal airplanes.
History of Amazon
Amazon started in July 1994 when Jeff Bezos set out to write up the business plan for what would become Amazon after he and his wife left their jobs working at a New York hedge fund.
The name “Amazon” was chosen because it was, according to Jeff Bezos, “exotic and different”, just like the world’s biggest river. The company started in his garage, and within two months after starting the company had hired five people.
Amazon began as an online bookstore but soon diversified by selling CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, e-books, video downloads/streaming, MP3 downloads/streaming calling them all “media” at the suggestion of Bezos. In 2007, the company began producing TV shows and distributing them through its own website.
In 2001, Bezos decided to diversify into “a comprehensive ‘everything store'” with products such as clothing, shoes, jewelry, toys, and more. In 2005 they began selling music from independent artists through their Muzooka digital content store.
Also in 2005, Amazon announced that it would be shipping video games and a range of toys. As of 2014, Amazon has continued to grow as a multi-national corporation with net sales reaching $89.1 billion in 2014.
Conclusion
Amazon’s business model allows for international expansion into new markets with little initial investment risk. Bezos’ vision was to create a company that would make shopping easy, efficient, and cost-effective.
For nearly twenty years, this has been achieved and has given Amazon its reputation as a top online retailer.
