Amazon: Jeff Bezos's Letters Part 1

“…we had served more than 1.5million customers, yielding 838% revenue growth to $147.8 million…”

Jeff Bezos announced he was stepping down as CEO of Amazon (AMZN) in 2020. This means his 24th annual shareholder letter in 2020 will be his last. With an end in sight, I think it’s as good a time as any to sit down and read all his letters. The man Warren Buffett considered one of the best businessmen of his generation. 

There are countless books, interviews, and essays on Bezos and AMZN. But the writings he shares once a year can’t be compared to a 10-second riff in a Q&A or a “he said, she said” from middle management. His shareholder letters are markers of history in AMZN’s development and a rare chance for outsiders to learn what Bezos was focused on. 

Most people in North America are familiar with AMZN. If others like me, I think it’s the site we buy from most often. Everything I see in the physical world, I compare it to AMZN’s prices. But how big is this business? Where does it actually make money?

For starters, its market cap is $1.73t. It confirmed my hunch that it’s a big c…