7 Things to Know About Amazon -- Some May Surprise You

Key Points

• Amazon is one of Earth's biggest employers.

• Interestingly, "Amazon" was not its original name.

• The company is home to a wide range of businesses.

• 10 stocks we like better than Amazon ›

No matter how well we may think we know a company, there are still likely to be things about it that can surprise -- or amuse -- us. For example, one of the two brothers who founded Domino's Pizza traded his share of the company to the other brother for a used Volkswagen Beetle.

Here's a look at Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and some interesting things about it which you might not know.

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1. Its logo has a message

Check out the Amazon logo, and you'll see an arrow under the word "Amazon." You might not think much of it, but upon closer inspection, you'll see that it's connecting the letters A and Z -- reflecting the fact that Amazon's sells everything from A to Z.

2. Its name wasn't always Amazon

When Amazon was founded in 1994, its name was Cadabra, as in abracadabra. It was soon decided that the name, while whimsical, was sometimes misheard as "cadaver." Founder Jeff Bezos started searching for a new name and wanted one that began with "A" -- so that it would appear early in lists -- and he settled on the name of the world's longest river.

3. It's a major employer

Many investors strongly favor companies with capital-light business models over capital-intensive ones -- such as airlines and railroads. Airbnb, for example, is quite capital-light, needing no stores, carrying no inventory, etc.

As an e-commerce giant, you might assume that Amazon is capital light, too, as, unlike Walmart, it doesn't have thousands of stores across the country. It's still a major employer, though, as it employs gobs of people in its distribution centers as well as drivers for deliveries.

As of the end of 2024, Amazon employed about 1,556,000 full-time and part-time employees -- which doesn't even include independent contractors and temporary workers. That's enough to make it the world's second-largest employer, per companiesmarketcap.com.

4. Its big numbers are really big

Consider this: While most companies sport market capitalizations in the millions or billions, Amazon is in elite company with a market cap in the trillions -- $2.45 trillion, recently. It's also one of the "Magnificent Seven" stocks, along with Apple, (Google parent) Alphabet, (Facebook parent) Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla.

The company rakes in some $650 billion annually -- and keeps about 10% of that as net profit. Numbers like that have really helped the company grow -- by an annual average rate of 32% since its initial public offering (IPO) in May 1997. That's enough to turn an investment of $10,000 into close to $26 million! If you'd bought just one share at the IPO, thanks to various stock splits, you'd now own 220 shares, and your initial $18 investment would be worth more than $50,000.

Meanwhile, founder Jeff Bezos was recently the third-richest person in the world, per Forbes -- with a net worth of about $244 billion.

5. Its brand name is very valuable

Various companies assess the value of global brands regularly, and per Brandirectory, Amazon is the fourth-most-valuable brand in the world, after Apple, Microsoft, and Google. Its brand value is listed as $356 billion.

6. It makes more on services than products

We tend to think of Amazon as a massive online retailer, which it certainly is. But it's also a major operator in the cloud computing realm, with its leading Amazon Web Services (AWS). In the company's first quarter, 59% of its revenue came from services. (It's worth noting that AWS's lead in market share has been shrinking recently.)

7. Amazon is much more than a marketplace and more than a cloud platform

Amazon is home to lots of different businesses and brands -- which recently included Whole Foods Market, shoe retailer Zappos.com, Goodreads, Twitch, Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), and Audible. It also makes and sells devices under the Alexa, Kindle, Fire, Ring, and Blink names, and features a host of services under its Amazon Prime umbrella, including Prime Video and Prime Music.

Then there's One Medical, with which Amazon has expanded into healthcare (along with other operations such as PillPack), and Zoox, which is a self-driving vehicle start-up. Amazon also bought the Kiva Systems robotics company, and is using its robots in its distribution centers.

Amazon has plenty of cash on hand, so stay tuned for further investments and expansions.

These are just some of many fascinating things to know about Amazon. If you're thinking of investing in Amazon or are already a shareholder, it can be helpful to learn all you can about the company.

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Selena Maranjian has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Airbnb, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Domino's Pizza, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tesla, and Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends Volkswagen Ag and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.