Is Amazon becoming a 21st century conglomerate? (2024)

FAQs

Is Amazon becoming a conglomerate? ›

Over the years Amazon has evolved from an online book store to an e-commerce giant and finally into a global conglomerate with business interests spanning an array of industries.

Amazon is an American multinational technology company which focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, and digital streaming.

Amazon.com's success is due in part to its innovative business model, which allows customers to buy anything from books to furniture to electronics online. The company has also been successful in its efforts to expand beyond its core retail business into other areas, such as cloud computing and streaming media.

A conglomerate is a corporation made up of several different, independent businesses. In a conglomerate, one company owns a controlling stake in smaller companies that each conduct business operations separately. Conglomerates can be created in several ways, including mergers or acquisitions.

Who owns Amazon now? As of January 2024, Jeff Bezos remains Amazon's largest individual shareholder, followed by Vanguard Group, the company's biggest institutional shareholder.

However, over the years it has quietly entered and come to dominate a number of other industries and truly diversified its revenue streams. Its entry into thriving industries such as healthcare, subscription services and its bold decision to delve into physical retail have helped the company to become a global empire.

Examples of conglomerates are Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta (formerly Facebook), Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Diageo, Johnson & Johnson, and Warner Media. All of these companies own many subsidiaries.

Originally started as an online bookselling company, Amazon has morphed into an internet-based business enterprise that is largely focused on providing e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming and artificial intelligence (AI) services.

What companies are conglomerates? ›

Conglomerates are usually defined as a multi-industry company, and they've invariably become multi-industry through acquisitions. Some of the biggest conglomerates in the world are now the companies that come up in everyday conversation: Mars, P&G, Nestle, Philips, General Electric and more.

Related keylists. Amazon.com Inc (Amazon) is an online retailer and web service provider. The company provides products such as apparel, auto and industrial items, beauty and health products, electronics, grocery, games, jewelry, kids and baby products, music, sports goods, toys, and tools.

The steadily increasing sales figures speak for themselves — Amazon hit nearly 575 billion U.S. dollars in net sales revenue worldwide in 2023. Due to its global scope and reach, Amazon is considered one of the most valuable brands worldwide.

As the segment continues to grow, Amazon's overall profitability should get a lift. Grand View Research estimates that the cloud market will be worth nearly $1.6 trillion by 2030, giving Amazon another gargantuan end market to penetrate.

Tech companies dominate a ranking of the ten biggest companies in 2023 by market cap. Apple tops the ranking, which was commissioned by City Index, with a market cap of $3.03 trillion, followed by Microsoft ($2.51 trillion), Saudi Aramco ($2.08 trillion), Alphabet/Google ($1.52 trillion) and Amazon ($1.34 trillion).

Neither Amazon, Google nor Facebook are anywhere close to being monopolists by that definition. They are big, but they face competition from myriad smaller rivals that will eagerly expand if they fail to innovate or serve their customers well.

Mumbai-based Reliance Industries is the largest conglomerate in the world. Since 1960, Dhirubhai Ambani's firm has become India's biggest by market value. It has a market worth of $228 billion in 2022. The corporation operates in energy, petrochemicals, textiles, natural resources, retail, and telecommunications.

Amazon has made 100 acquisitions across sectors such as Consumer Digital - US, Enterprise Tech - US, B2C E-Commerce and others. The company has spent over $44.7B for acquisitions.

Microsoft is the largest company in the world, with a market cap of $3.13 trillion. It's followed by Apple ($2.65 trillion), Nvidia ($2.26 trillion), Saudi Arabian Oil ($1.98 trillion), and Amazon ($1.89 trillion).