Amazon is a consumer e-commerce platform with a diversified business model spanning across e-commerce, cloud, advertising, streaming, and more. Over the years Amazon acquired several companies. Among its 12 subsidiaries, Amazon has AbeBooks.com, Audible, CamiXology, Fabric.com, IMDb, PillPack, Shopbop, Souq.com, Twitch, Whole Foods Market, Woot! and Zappos.
Subsidiary / Division
Business Category
Key Differentiator
Integration Strategy
Amazon.com
E-Commerce and Online Retail
Leading online marketplace.
Serves as the core e-commerce platform, providing a vast selection of products to consumers globally.
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Cloud Computing and Services
Comprehensive cloud infrastructure and services.
Drives innovation and profitability through cloud services, serving businesses and developers worldwide.
Amazon Prime
Subscription and Loyalty Program
Membership program with benefits.
Enhances customer loyalty and encourages repeat purchases, integrating with e-commerce and content services.
Amazon Fresh
Grocery and Food Delivery
Online grocery and fresh food delivery.
Expands into the grocery market, offering convenience and delivery options for food products.
Kindle
E-Readers and Digital Content
E-readers and digital books.
Provides a platform for digital content consumption and aligns with Amazon’s digital media offerings.
Amazon Echo
Smart Speakers and Voice Assistants
Smart speakers with Alexa voice assistant.
Advances Amazon’s presence in the smart home and voice technology space, connecting to various services.
Zappos
Online Shoe and Clothing Retail
Online shoe and apparel retailer.
Adds a specialized e-commerce brand with a focus on footwear and fashion.
Twitch
Game Streaming and Content Creation
Leading live streaming platform for gamers.
Provides a platform for gamers and content creators, aligning with Amazon’s digital media and entertainment initiatives.
IMDb
Film and Television Information
Online database for movies, TV shows, and celebrities.
Enhances content discovery and aligns with Amazon’s digital media services.
Whole Foods Market
Grocery and Organic Foods
Chain of organic and natural food supermarkets.
Expands Amazon’s presence in the grocery industry and offers organic and healthy options to consumers.
Audible
Audiobooks and Spoken Word Content
Audiobook subscription service.
Adds audiobooks and spoken word content to Amazon’s digital media portfolio, complementing e-books.
Ring
Smart Home Security
Smart home security devices and services.
Enhances Amazon’s presence in the smart home market, integrating with its Echo devices.
Goodreads
Book Recommendations and Reviews
Online book recommendations and social platform.
Provides book recommendations and user-generated content, enhancing Amazon’s book sales and e-reader offerings.
Amazon Pharmacy
Online Pharmacy
Online prescription medication ordering.
Expands into the healthcare market, offering convenience and accessibility for prescription medication.
Amazon Logistics
Package Delivery and Logistics
In-house package delivery and logistics services.
Optimizes last-mile delivery and strengthens Amazon’s supply chain capabilities.
Amazon Go
Cashierless Retail Stores
Physical stores with automated checkout.
Innovates the retail experience with cashierless technology and convenience.
Amazon has many known subsidiaries, with a culture of mergers and acquisitions starting in the late 1990s after an IPO amid the dot-com bubble.
When many of these dot-com companies went bankrupt in the early 2000s, the company became more cautious and only invested in two companies between 2000 and 2004.
In 2005, however, the strategy recommenced in earnest as Amazon acquired a mixture of media websites and online retailers.
From 2011 onward, the company broadened its focus with acquisitions in the pharmaceutical, live streaming, and grocery industries to name just a few.
While we could never list them all, below is a selection of five Amazon subsidiaries.
Audible: Acquired by Amazon in 2008, Audible is a leading provider of audiobooks and spoken-word content. It offers a wide range of digital audiobooks across various genres and has become a popular platform for both consumers and authors.
IMDb (Internet Movie Database): Acquired by Amazon in 1998, IMDb is a comprehensive online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, directors, and more. It has grown to be one of the most visited entertainment websites, offering reviews, ratings, and information about various productions.
Zappos: Amazon acquired Zappos in 2009. Zappos is an online shoe and clothing retailer known for its exceptional customer service and wide selection of products. It operates as a subsidiary of Amazon but maintains its distinct brand and company culture.
Twitch: Acquired by Amazon in 2014, Twitch is a popular live streaming platform primarily focused on video game streaming and esports. It has expanded to include various types of content, such as creative broadcasts and music streaming, making it a significant player in the online entertainment industry.
Whole Foods Market: Acquired by Amazon in 2017, Whole Foods Market is a well-known upscale grocery store chain that emphasizes natural and organic products. This acquisition marked Amazon’s entry into the grocery industry and allowed it to expand its presence in the physical retail space.
Founded in 1980, in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods was born as a natural foods store. In 2017, Amazon acquired it for about 14 billion dollars. By 2017, Whole Foods already had over $16 billion in revenues. It is now integrated within Amazon’s operations, thus enabling it to compete in the fresh food space, combined with Amazon Fresh (a grocery delivery service operating primarily in the US).
Whole Foods Market is a multinational supermarket chain with a particular focus on organic food choices that are free from artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives.
This gave Amazon a significant presence in video games and immersive technology – both lucrative industries that are redefining the ways consumers interact online.
Twitch started in 2007 as Justin.tv, broadcasting the life of Justin Kan, one of its co-founders, used to prove the concept of enabling anyone to broadcast their lives on the web. Once pivoted, Twitch quickly grew, and by 2014 it was acquired by Amazon for almost a billion dollars. Titch now makes money via subscriptions, bits, advertising, and merchandising.
Souq is an eCommerce company that was founded in 2005 by Ronaldo Mouchawar.
Souq operates the largest such platform in the Middle Eastern market, selling millions of products in consumer electronics, healthcare, fashion, and homewares.
Souq became an Amazon subsidiary in March 2017 in a deal worth $580 million in cash.
The acquisition allowed Amazon to further its intentions to become a global leader in eCommerce.
Zoox is an Amazon subsidiary that produces autonomous vehicles in the form of robot-taxis for mobility-as-a-service (Maas).
The company was originally founded by Australian designer Tim Kentley-Klay and Jesse Levison – son of Apple chairman Arthur – who was creating self-driving technology whilst studying at Stanford University.
The eCommerce behemoth outbid pharmacy chain CVS Health who put an offer forward a few months prior.
The One Medical acquisition enabled Amazon to expand its reach into healthcare alongside Amazon Care, a provider of virtual and in-home care services to individuals as well as other companies.
With Amazon Care and One Medical under its umbrella, the move was framed as a broader objective to reinvent the healthcare system.
At present, customers are required to book an appointment, wait for weeks or even months to be seen, secure time off work, and then often wait for hours before spending just a few minutes in front of the doctor.
In the press release announcing the deal, SVP of Amazon Health Services Neil Lindsay explained that the current system was ripe for disruption with a human-centered and technology-powered approach.
“We see lots of opportunity to both improve the quality of the experience and give people back valuable time in their days,” he explained.
It was hoped that an increase in efficiency would also make the healthcare system more affordable, accessible, and even enjoyable for both patients and healthcare providers.
iRobot
Amazon also announced it would be acquiring consumer robot company iRobot in August 2022 for around $1.7 billion.
However, the deal is currently subject to FTC approval with the federal body raising antitrust concerns.
Almost immediately after the deal was announced, organizations such as Color of Change and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters voiced their concerns in an open letter.
Chief among these concerns was the potential for Amazon to collect private data from the Roomba vacuum cleaner about the layout of customers’ homes or their particular lifestyles.
The coalition of two dozen organizations was also fearful that the deal would enable Amazon to obtain a monopoly in the home tech sector.
They posited that Amazon could sell the Roomba at a loss and force other operators (without Amazon’s trove of data) out of the market.
One month later, in September, the FTC made a second request which CNN called “an indicator of deeper scrutiny by antitrust officials.”
Some see the interest and involvement of the FTC as part of a renewed focus on Big Tech monopolies, with chairwoman Lina Khan having a history of targeting the practices of Apple, Google, and Meta.
More than one year earlier in July 2021, however, Amazon filed a motion to the FTC noting that Khan’s previous criticism of Amazon made her too biased to deal with the company fairly. “A reasonable observer would conclude that she no longer can consider the company’s antitrust defenses with an open mind,” part of the motion said.
Despite Amazon’s best efforts, Khan remains chairperson of the FTC and more recently has been involved in scrutinizing Microsoft’s intention to acquire Activision Blizzard.
Woot
Woot is an American eCommerce company that was founded by entrepreneur Matt Rutledge. Woot was launched in 2004 as a daily deal site where Rutledge offered one product per day at a heavily discounted price.
Rutledge retained his role as CEO, but under Amazon’s ownership, Woot’s simple business model became more complex. Primarily, the platform moved away from the deal-of-the-day approach and instead featured a broader assortment of discounts.
Ring
Ring is a smart home and home security company that manufactures surveillance products. Ring started life as Doorbot in 2013 and was founded by Jamie Siminoff.
When Siminioff pitched his idea on an episode of TV series Shark Tank, investor and consumer interest in the company grew and it was later rebranded.
The purchase was part of the company’s wider move into home security after partnering with lock manufacturers Yale and Kwikset for in-home delivery service Amazon Key.
Amazon Studios
Amazon Studios is the company’s television and film production subsidiary that was started in the latter half of 2010. Produced content is shown in streaming service Amazon Prime Video and also in cinemas.
Amazon studios started by developing movies and television shows from online submissions and crowd-sourced feedback.
The company had received around 10,000 submissions by late 2012 and users were paid various amounts according to whether scripts were accepted for development or made into full-budget films.
In April 2018, however, the company announced it would no longer accept screenplay submissions. Three years later, parent company Amazon acquired Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in a multi-billion dollar deal.
Amazon Pharmacy
Amazon Pharmacy is a relatively recent addition to Amazon’s portfolio of subsidiaries. It was launched in November 2020 to offer prescription medication delivery to customers in the United States.
Amazon Pharmacy allows customers to order medication online and have it delivered to their doorstep.
Prime members can access free, two-day home delivery but are required to create a secure pharmacy profile that details their medical and insurance information.
The service is frequently described as a disruptor in the retail pharmacy sector. Indeed, on the day it was launched, competitor drugstores, distributors, and health insurers lost a combined $22 billion in market value.
Book Depository
Book Depository is an online bookseller based in the UK that was founded in 2004 by Andrew Crawford and Stuart Felton.
The company specializes in offering a wide range of titles and has become popular with consumers for its extensive catalog, competitive prices, and free worldwide delivery.
Amazon acquired Book Depository in 2011 for an undisclosed sum. At the time, there were concerns over the company’s dominance in the UK market with the acquisition enabling it to become a near-monopoly bookseller.
Today, Book Depository continues to operate as a separate entity.
PillPack
PillPack is an online pharmacy that was founded in 2013 by TJ Parker and Elliot Cohen.
The two pharmacists, who had previously worked together at a pharmacy in New Hampshire, saw an opportunity to simplify the medication management process for people who take multiple medications, vitamins, and other health products.
Founded in 2005, MGM Holdings is the parent company of content producer and distributor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). The product of a Sony-led consortium, MGM Holdings acquired MGM in a leveraged buyout worth $8.4 billion.
As early as December 2020, MGM started to explore a potential sale of its studio after the pandemic and the proliferation of streaming platforms reduced cinema ticket sales. Amazon started talks to acquire the company in May 2021 and intended to continue operation of the studio and its assets under a new entity.
As part of the announcement, senior Amazon VP Mike Hopkins noted that “We welcome MGM employees, creators, and talent to Prime Video and Amazon Studios, and we look forward to working together to create even more opportunities to deliver quality storytelling to our customers.”
Wondery
Wondery is a podcastnetwork that was launched in 2016 by Hernan Lopez – a former Fox International Channels CEO who received financial backing from 20th Century Fox. Wondery is primarily focused on mobile users and audio-on-demand.
After three years, the network entered the top five podcast publishers with 40 million users added in December 2018 alone. Several of its podcasts have also been adapted for television, such as Dirty John, Dr. Death, and The Shrink Next Door.
Amazon announced on December 31, 2020, that Wondery would be joining Amazon Music. The company noted that the deal would enable the platform to offer more than simply music as listener habits evolved.
Lab126 is a computer hardware and R&D company that was started in 2004 by Gregg Zehr, an engineer and former employee at Palm and Apple. The name “Lab126” was chosen because the number 1-2-6 spells out “Lab” on a telephone keypad.
Lab126 has always been under the Amazon stable and has made numerous important contributions to Amazon products over the years. These include:
Amazon Kindle – released after three years of development in 2007.
Kindle Fire Tablet – with the two subsequent models Kindle Fire HD and Fire HDX.
Amazon Fire TV – launched in 2014.
Amazon Echo – the voice command device debuted in 2015.
The Amazon Go chain of convenience stores, and
Amazon Astro – a home robot developed by Lab126 for home security monitoring and remote care of the elderly, among other applications.
Today, this subsidiary is a key part of Amazon’s innovation efforts as it continues to develop new products that aim to make customers’ lives easier and more enjoyable.
History of Amazon with Brad Store
Key takeaways
Amazon has many known subsidiaries thanks to a culture of mergers and acquisitions that started in the late 1990s. Perhaps its most high-profile acquisition was Whole Food Markets in 2017 for $13 billion.
Amazon also owns video live streaming service Twitch and eCommerce company Souq, the largest such platform in the Middle East.
Other Amazon subsidiaries include audiobook platform Audible and autonomous vehicle company Zoox.
Key Highlights
Audible: Acquired in 2008, Audible is a leading provider of audiobooks and spoken-word content, enhancing Amazon’s digital media portfolio.
IMDb (Internet Movie Database): Acquired in 1998, IMDb is a comprehensive online database for movies, TV shows, and celebrities, enriching Amazon’s content discovery offerings.
Zappos: Acquired in 2009, Zappos is an online shoe and clothing retailer known for exceptional customer service, adding a specialized e-commerce brand to Amazon’s portfolio.
Twitch: Acquired in 2014, Twitch is a leading live streaming platform for gamers and content creators, expanding Amazon’s presence in the digital entertainment industry.
Whole Foods Market: Acquired in 2017 for over $13 billion, Whole Foods Market is a well-known grocery chain emphasizing organic and natural products, marking Amazon’s entry into the grocery industry and physical retail space.
Which companies are owned by Amazon?
Amazon owns hundreds of private labels, among which some are branded under the Amazon Basic umbrella. In addition, Amazon acquired AbeBooks.com, Audible, CamiXology, Fabric.com, IMDb, PillPack, Shopbop, Souq.com, Twitch, Whole Foods Market, Woot!, and Zappos.
As of 2021, Bezos owned 12.7% of Amazon. It’s critical to understand that over the years, Amazon took various venture capital investments, and as a listed company, part of the ownership is public. Thus, Bezos retained a significant stake in Amazon, valued at over $100 billion.
Amazon has a diversified business model. In 2023, Amazon generated nearly $575 billion in revenues while it posted a net profit of over $30 billion. Online stores contributed over 40% of Amazon revenues. Third-party Seller Services and Physical Stores generated the remaining. Amazon AWS, Subscription Services, and Advertising revenues play a significant role within Amazon as fast-growing segments.
Amazon’s mission statement is to “serve consumers through online and physical stores and focus on selection, price, and convenience.” Amazon’s vision statement is “to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices.”
In the Amazon Shareholders’ Letter for 2018, Jeff Bezos analyzed the Amazon business model, and it also focused on a few key lessons that Amazon as a company has learned over the years. These lessons are fundamental for any entrepreneur, of small or large organization to understand the pitfalls to avoid to run a successful company!
With 64,588,418 shares, Jeff Bezos is the primary individual investor. Owning 12.7% of the company. Other top individual investors include Amazon’s CEO Andy Jessy, who has 94,729 shares. Top institutional investors include mutual funds like The Vanguard Group (6.6% ownership) and BlackRock (5.7% ownership).
Amazon generated over half a trillion dollars in revenue in 2023, of which $231.87B from online stores, over $140.05B from third-party seller services, $90.76B from AWS, $46.9B from advertising, $40.21B from subscription services, $20.03B billion in physical stores, and $4.96B from other sources.
Amazon was profitable in 2023. On nearly $575 billion in revenue for 2023, Amazon generated a net profit of over $30 billion. Since 2014, Amazon hasn’t recorded a net loss, but it did record a net loss of over $2.7 billion in 2022, while it recouped that in 2023. Indeed, in 2014, Amazon reported a net loss of $241 million, and it would be profitable until 2021. In 2022, Amazon turned unprofitable again and highly profitable again in 2023.
Amazon AWS follows a platform business model that gains traction by tapping into network effects. Born as an infrastructure built on top of Amazon’s infrastructure, AWS has become a company offering cloud services to thousands of clients from the enterprise level, to startups. And its marketplace enables companies to connect to other service providers to build integrated solutions for their organizations.
Amazon subscription revenue in 2023 was over $40 billion, compared to over $35 billion in 2022 and nearly $32 billion in 2021. Amazon Prime grew from a $4.5 billion revenue segment in 2015 to an over $40 billion segment in 2023.
The Amazon Working Backwards Method is a product development methodology that advocates building a product based on customer needs. The Amazon Working Backwards Method gained traction after notable Amazon employee Ian McAllister shared the company’s product development approach on Quora. McAllister noted that the method seeks “to work backwards from the customer, rather than starting with an idea for a product and trying to bolt customers onto it.”
The Amazon Flywheel or Amazon Virtuous Cycle is a strategy that leverages on customer experience to drive traffic to the platform and third-party sellers. That improves the selections of goods, and Amazon further improves its cost structure so it can decrease prices which spins the flywheel.
In the letter to shareholders in 2016, Jeff Bezos addressed a topic he had been thinking quite profoundly in the last decades as he led Amazon: Day 1. As Jeff Bezos put it “Day 2 is stasis. Followed by irrelevance. Followed by excruciating, painful decline. Followed by death. And that is why it is always Day 1.”
A regret minimization framework is a business heuristic that enables you to make a decision, by projecting yourself in the future, at an old age, and visualize whether the regrets of missing an opportunity would hunt you down, vs. having taken the opportunity and failed. In short, if taking action and failing feels much better than regretting it, in the long run, that is when you’re ready to go!
A network effect is a phenomenon in which as more people or users join a platform, the more the value of the service offered by the platform improves for those joining afterward.
A platform business model generates value by enabling interactions between people, groups, and users by leveraging network effects. Platform business models usually comprise two sides: supply and demand. Kicking off the interactions between those two sides is one of the crucial elements for a platform business model’s success.
Jeff Bezos was best known for founding eCommerce giant Amazon in 1994. However, the entrepreneur owns companies in several industries, including health care, retail, robotics, real estate, and media. Many of these companies have been acquired by Amazon over the years, but some have been the result of direct investment from Bezos himself (through his investment arm is called Bezos Expeditions).
Amazon is a consumer e-commerce platform with a diversified business model spanning across e-commerce, cloud, advertising, streaming, and more. Over the years Amazon acquired several companies. Among its 12 subsidiaries, Amazon has AbeBooks.com, Audible, CamiXology, Fabric.com, IMDb, PillPack, Shopbop, Souq.com, Twitch, Whole Foods Market, Woot! and Zappos.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
