List of Companies owned by Amazon

List of Companies owned by Amazon: Founded in 1994 as an online bookstore, Amazon has grown into a global e-commerce and cloud computing giant. After going public in 1997 amid the dot-com boom, Amazon used IPO funds to begin acquiring companies. However, the 2000 dot-com crash severely impacted Amazon and its investments. To survive, Amazon limited acquisitions from 2000-2004.

Expansion resumed in 2005 with major digital and media deals. In 2011, Amazon shifted its acquisition strategy to technology startups – especially in voice computing and cloud services. This diversification peaked with 2017’s $13.7 billion purchase of grocery chain Whole Foods – Amazon’s largest deal ever. Through shifts in acquisition focus, Amazon successfully transformed itself from a niche online bookseller to an e-commerce conglomerate.

Today, Amazon’s empire spans web services, digital media, artificial intelligence, and logistics infrastructure among other sectors – built in part through strategic and timely acquisitions over its 28-year journey.

History of Amazon

Amazon was founded in 1994 in Bellevue, Washington by Jeff Bezos. His then-wife MacKenzie Scott was also instrumental in kickstarting operations in Amazon’s early days.

The company began as an humble online book marketplace. Over nearly three decades, it has tremendously diversified its business offerings.

Today, Amazon has established itself as a global, multi-sector conglomerate spanning:

• Online retail across product categories
• Cloud computing services
• Supermarket chains
• Consumer technology devices
• Media production and more

But it all started from modest beginnings – an idea from Jeff Bezos to sell books online fueled by dedication from early employees and family. This seed has now blossomed into one of the world’s most valuable companies.

Amazon’s Biggest Acquisitions

Amazon’s largest acquisition to date is grocery chain Whole Foods in 2017 for $13.7 billion. This provided physical retail presence and customer insights to complement their ecommerce business.

Top 10 Amazon Deals by Value:

• Whole Foods – $13.7 billion (Food, 2017)
• MGM Studios – $8.5 billion (Media, 2021)
• Zoox – $1.2 billion (Automotive Tech, 2020)
• Zappos – $1.2 billion (Ecommerce, 2009)
• Ring – $970 million (Home Security, 2018)
• Twitch – $970 million (Live Streaming, 2014)
• Kiva Systems – $775 million (Robotics, 2012)
• PillPack – $753 million (Healthtech, 2018)
• Souq – $580 million (Ecommerce, 2017)
• Quidsi – $545 million (Ecommerce, 2010)

With major moves into groceries, media, cloud services and healthtech, Amazon dominates multiple emerging tech sectors through strategic mega-deals.

Also Read About: Top 10 Applications of Robotics in 2024

List of Companies Owned by Amazon

Here’s the list of all the companies owned by Amazon:

Number	Company	Acquired On
1	Bookpages	April 27, 1998
2	Telebook	April 27, 1998
3	IMDb	April 27, 1998
4	Junglee	August 4, 1998
5	PlanetAll	August 4, 1998
6	LiveBid.com	April 12, 1999
7	Accept.com	April 27, 1999
8	Alexa Internet	April 27, 1999
9	e-Niche Incorporated	April 27, 1999
10	Convergence Corporation	October 4, 1999
11	Tool Crib of the North	November 9, 1999
12	Back to Basics Toys	November 30, 1999
13	Leep Technology Inc.	December 31, 1999
14	MindCorps Incorporated	1999
15	Egghead Software	December 5, 2001
16	OurHouse.com	December 2001
17	Joyo.com	August 19, 2004
18	BookSurge	April 4, 2005
19	Mobipocket	April 21, 2005
20	CustomFlix	July 6, 2005
21	smallparts.com	2005
22	Shopbop	February 27, 2006
23	TextPayMe	October 1, 2006
24	Digital Photography Review	May 14, 2007
25	Brilliance Audio	May 23, 2007
26	Withoutabox	January 16, 2008
27	Audible	January 28, 2008
28	Fabric.com	June 25, 2008
29	AbeBooks	August 1, 2008
30	Shelfari	August 26, 2008
31	Reflexive Entertainment	October 21, 2008
32	Box Office Mojo	December 17, 2008
33	Lexcycle	April 27, 2009
34	SnapTell	June 18, 2009
35	Zappos	November 2, 2009
36	Touchco	February 3, 2010
37	Woot	July 2, 2010
38	Amie Street	September 8, 2010
39	BuyVIP	October 4, 2010
40	Quidsi	November 8, 2010
41	Toby Press	November 18, 2010
42	LoveFilm	January 20, 2011
43	The Book Depository	July 4, 2011
44	Pushbutton	July 28, 2011
45	Yap	September 2011
46	Double Helix Games	September 5, 2011
47	Teachstreet	February 2, 2012
48	Kiva Systems	March 19, 2012
49	Evi	April 17, 2012
50	Avalon Books	April 17, 2012
51	UpNext	July 2, 2012
52	IVONA Software	January 24, 2013
53	Goodreads	March 28, 2013
54	Liquavista	May 13, 2013
55	TenMarks Education, Inc.	October 10, 2013
56	ComiXology	April 10, 2014
57	Amiato	May 2014
58	Twitch Interactive	August 25, 2014
59	Rooftop Media	August 25, 2014
60	GoodGame	December 9, 2014
61	Annapurna Labs	January 22, 2015
62	2lemetry	March 12, 2015
63	Shoefitr	April 10, 2015
64	ClusterK	April 29, 2015
65	AppThwack	July 14, 2015
66	Elemental Technologies	September 3, 2015
67	Safaba Translation Systems	September 25, 2015
68	Biba Systems	September 2015
69	Orbeus	December 1, 2015
70	Colis Privé	January 11, 2016
71	NICE	February 12, 2016
72	Emvantage Payments	February 16, 2016
73	Cloud9 IDE	July 14, 2016
74	Curse, Inc.	August 16, 2016
75	Westland	October 28, 2016
76	Partpic	November 2, 2016
77	harvest.ai	January 9, 2017
78	Thinkbox Software	March 6, 2017
79	Do.com	March 8, 2017
80	Whole Foods Market	June 16, 2017
81	Souq.com	July 3, 2017
82	Graphiq	July 20, 2017
83	GameSparks	July 28, 2017
84	Wing.ae	September 6, 2017
85	Body Labs	October 3, 2017
86	Goo Technologies	November 28, 2017
87	Dispatch	November 2017
88	Blink Home	December 2017
89	Sqrrl	January 23, 2018
90	Ring	February 27, 2018
91	PillPack	June 28, 2018
92	Tapzo	August 28, 2018
93	CloudEndure	January 10, 2019
94	TSO Logic	January 14, 2019
95	Eero	February 11, 2019
96	Canvas Technology	April 10, 2019
97	Sizmek Ad Server and Sizmek Dynamic…	May 31, 2019
98	Bebo	June 18, 2019
99	E8 Storage	July 31, 2019
100	IGDB	September 17, 2019
101	INLT	September 24, 2019
102	Zoox	June 26, 2020
103	Wondery	December 30, 2020
104	Umbra 3D	January 22, 2021
105	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	May 26, 2021
106	Art19	June 24, 2021
107	Wickr	June 25, 2021
108	Veeqo	November 1, 2021
109	Strio.AI	March 7, 2022
110	GlowRoad	April 21, 2022
111	One Medical	July 21, 2022
112	Cloostermans	September 9, 2022
113	Spirit.ai	November 22, 2022
114	Fig	August 28, 2023

Top Companies Owned By Amazon

Amazon undoubtedly dominates as the world’s largest online retailer for books, electronics, home essentials and almost anything imaginable at competitive rates. However, over its 28-year journey, Amazon has strategically acquired major consumer brands across diverse sectors.

The above comprise just a few of the household names that now reside within Amazon’s expanding empire, alongside Amazon Web Services cloud computing arm. Through key mergers spanning retail, media, technology and healthcare, Amazon has gradually built outstanding vertical depth and remarkable influence across industries.

1. Whole Foods

• Founded in 1978 as SaferWay, Whole Foods Market is the largest organic food retailer in the US, Canada and UK with over 500 stores. Pre-acquisition, Whole Foods was an independent public company valued at nearly $10 billion.
• When Amazon acquired Whole Foods for $13.7 billion in 2017 – its largest deal ever – it marked Amazon’s inaugural foray into physical grocery retail.
• The move aligned with Amazon’s strategy to integrate offline and online shopping. Post-merger, Amazon lowered Whole Foods’ prices, shed its “Whole Paycheck” image and interlinked Prime member perks across its ecommerce platform and Whole Foods store network.
• The blockbuster Whole Foods deal landed Amazon an established brand, vast real estate and direct access to high-value shoppers as it accelerates its footprint in grocery ecommerce alongside brick-and-mortar sales.
• The synergies continue to evolve three years later as Amazon leverages the merger to reimagine the next generation phydigital retail experience.

2. Zappos

• Zappos began in 1999 as Shoesite.com – an online retailer specialized in footwear and apparel. It was renamed after the Spanish word for shoes ‘zapatos’ shortly after.
• Within a decade, Zappos had become a major player still operating independently. However, in 2009 Amazon acquired the company through a cash and stock deal totaling $1.2 billion by closing.
• Reports indicate Amazon initially saw Zappos as a threat. It tried acquiring Zappos unsuccessfully in 2007 before launching its own Endless.com shoe ecommerce portal. However, by 2012 Amazon had to shut Endless while committing completely to growing Zappos.
• For Amazon, bringing Zappos into its fold in 2009 marked its first billion-dollar acquisition while neutralizing a competitor. It provided Amazon an established fashion ecommerce brand and access to the lucrative apparel segment beyond just books and electronics.
• Now wholly owned by Amazon, Zappos does over $2 billion in yearly revenues upselling shoes and clothing to style-focused shoppers through superior customer service and loyalty perks.

3. PillPack

• PillPack, founded in 2013, is an online pharmacy that pre-sorts medications by dose and delivers to customers’ homes.
• In 2018, Amazon acquired PillPack for $753 million seeking to aggressively expand into pharmaceutical ecommerce and delivery in the United States.
• Post-acquisition, PillPack continues to operate as an independent brand under Amazon, leveraging expansive fulfillment infrastructure for convenient overnight shipping of medications nationwide.
• The merger provided Amazon deep expertise in handling prescriptions through an existing team while enabling PillPack to scale rapidly. It signaled ominous competition for traditional pharmacies.
• Together with Amazon’s vast reach and logistics network, PillPack poses to disrupt pharmacy chains by facilitating seamless medicine procurement and adherence via web and mobile apps.
• The deal marked another major investment, after WholeFoods and Zappos, in adding new high-value verticals to Amazon’s burgeoning commerce empire.

4. Twitch Interactive

• Twitch is a live video streaming platform for gamers. It allows people to broadcast their gameplay in real-time for audiences to interact and watch.
• Launched in 2011, Twitch had cultivated a devoted community of over 55 million monthly viewers by 2014. It was especially dominant among popular genres like eSports tournaments.
• In 2014, Amazon acquired Twitch for $970 million to deep dive into video games and harness web streaming – two fast-growing entertainment mediums.
• Bringing Twitch’s passionate gaming fanbase into the fold presented Amazon cross-selling opportunities and better engagement of young consumers. As part of Amazon, Twitch has continued to grow its monthly active user base while collaborating with Prime on premium content and shopping perks.
• For Amazon, the Twitch deal marked a foray into endemic, gaming-specific video verticals and communities for long-term competitive advantage.

5. IMDb

Launched in 1990, IMDb (Internet Movie Database) is a exhaustive online encyclopedia for films and TV shows. It provides:

• Plot summaries and analysis
• Cast/crew profiles
• User reviews and ratings
• Parents guides with age ratings

Trivia and technical specifications

In 1998, a fledgling Amazon acquired IMDb for $55 million through a three-company deal. IMDb became one of the first and most prominent additions to Amazon’s portfolio.

The acquisition provided rich metadata on actors, movies and shows. Besides drawing advertisers for Amazon’s websites, data synergies significantly benefited recommendations on Amazon marketplaces over the years.

Now wholly owned by Amazon, IMDb remains a definitive destination for information on entertainment titles consumed by millions monthly even today after almost 25 years – making it among Amazon’s most successful purchases driving long-term value.

Company Name	Acquired In	Founder
Whole Foods	June 16, 2017	John Mackey
Zappos	November 2, 2009	Nick Swinmurn
PillPack	June 28, 2018	TJ Parker and Elliot Cohen
Twitch Interactive	August 25, 2014	Emmett Shear, Justin Kan, Michael Seibel, Kyle Vogt
IMDb	April 27, 1998	Col Needham

Conclusion

Amazon has become ubiquitous as the world’s largest online retailer offering competitive pricing on virtually anything. However, many popular consumer brands across diverse sectors also reside within Amazon’s portfolio.

So next time you come across a brand name online or in the real world, there’s a chance it is now an Amazon subsidiary powering wider ambitions. The company has implemented quiet yet calculated moves to slowly capture diverse consumer segments and channels outside its original online retail identify.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Which companies does Amazon own?

Amazon has more than 100 subsidiaries under its umbrella, including well-known names like Amazon Web Services, Audible, Diapers.com, Goodreads, IMDb, Kiva Systems (now Amazon Robotics), One Medical, Shopbop, Teachstreet, Twitch, Zappos, and Zoox.

Does Amazon have ownership of Google?

No, Amazon does not own Google. Google is under the parent holding company known as Alphabet.

How many companies does Jeff Bezos possess?

Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon and widely recognized as the richest person globally, boasts an estimated net worth of US$129.9 billion. He made history by becoming the first person to surpass the US$100 billion mark.

Who are the owners of Amazon?

The Bezos family, particularly Jeff Bezos and his former wife Mackenzie Scott, co-founded Amazon. They are a notable American family deeply involved in both business and philanthropy.

Who holds the largest ownership stake in Amazon?

Even after recent sales, Jeff Bezos maintains the position as the largest shareholder of Amazon, owning a 9.56% stake. Institutional investors and index funds, such as Vanguard, Invesco (IVZ), and Fidelity (FIS), follow as the next significant stakeholders.