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.

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.