Amazon now world’s most valuable public company

Amazon has overtaken Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable listed company. As at Monday, the 25-year-old online giant was worth $797 billion (£634bn) when the US stock market closed after rising 3.4 per cent and moved past Microsoft, which is valued at $789 billion. The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, is the world’s wealthiest man, with riches of $135billion, according to Bloomberg’s billionaire index, after overtaking Microsoft’s Bill Gates last year. For more than a decade, the company put growth ahead of profit, investing in warehouses, distribution networks, and data systems. In 2017, it paid $13.7 billion for Whole Foods Market, which brought it an extensive network of physical stores for the first time. It has also emerged as a significant creator of original entertainment content, producing original drama series. Also, it has won the rights to broadcast live sporting action, such as football from England’s Premier League and ATP tennis. The firm has developed a raft of other products and services, including the Kindle e-reader and Alexa virtual assistant, among others. Founded by Mr. Bezos in 1994, Amazon started life as a niche second-hand bookseller and has become an online retailer of items ranging from fresh food to clothes. The firm was created in a garage in a suburb of Seattle, Washington. It was initially called “Cadabra,” (as in “abracadabra”) and in 1995 sold its first book – Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought, by Douglas Hofstadter. By early 1996, Amazon was selling books online throughout the US. The business was floated on the stock exchange in 1997, raising $54million. As a result, Mr. Bezos joined the ranks of the world’s richest business people before he turned 35 years of age. It is the first time Amazon has held the top position. The share prices of US tech giants have been on a rollercoaster in recent months on worries about sales and trade tensions. Ladesope Ladelokun, with agency report