15 Ambitious Facts About Amazon

When Jeff Bezos quit his Wall Street hedge fund executive job and started the company out of his garage in 1995, it was just a simple bookstore.

He didn’t have any books on hand, but when orders came in, he would find the book, buy it, and re-sell it at a profit. Little did he know the heights of success his business would grow to.

Keep reading to find out just how high those heights reached!

The first book ever sold on Amazon was titled Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies.

It was purchased by John Wainwright, a friend of Jeff Bezos‘ single employee, Shal Kaphan. The sale was made on April 3, 1995.

Previously, the only books they had sold were run through the system as tests.

Later, an Amazon building was named after Wainwright to honor his historic purchase.

Bezos first wanted to call the company “Cadabra” until his lawyer pointed out that it sounded too much like “cadaver.”

“Amazon” was chosen as a name partly because it served as an iconic goal – to become the largest river of books in the world.

It was also chosen because it started with the letter “A,” putting it near the top of alphabetical search engines.

A third choice, Relentless.com, still takes you to Amazon.

Amazon’s logo shows a smile stretching from A to Z, underscoring the name and signifying that “the company is willing to deliver everything to everyone, anywhere in the world.”

Bezos once hired mobile billboards to drive by Barnes & Noble stores, displaying the question, ‘Can’t find that book you wanted?’ along with Amazon’s website.

In return, Barnes & Noble sued Amazon in 1997, alleging that their slogan ‘Earth’s Largest Bookstore’ was a false claim. The case was settled out of court, but Amazon continued to use the slogan.

Although Barnes & Noble operates 585 storefronts across all 50 states, Amazon still outsells them. Amazon did ultimately become the largest bookstore on Earth, too.

The first year that Amazon turned a profit was 2004.

It’s been up, up, and away ever since.

As of 2022, Amazon is the world’s fourth largest public firm by revenue, after Walmart, Saudi Arabia’s oil and gas company Aramco, and China’s State Grid Corporation, which provides utilities nationwide.