What Companies Does Amazon Own?

Last updated: Jul 24, 2024

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Find out which companies Amazon owns and how they fit into its ecosystem of brands and products.

Image Credit: NurPhoto via Getty Images

Since its founding in 1984, Amazon has revolutionized how people shop online. Now, with a market cap of roughly $1.56 trillion and over a million employees, Amazon is one of the largest companies in the world. Amazon also owns more than 40 subsidiary companies that sell everything from books to organic food to apparel.

In this guide, we’ll take a look at some of the most important companies Amazon owns.

Companies Owned by Amazon

1. Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods Market, more commonly known simply as Whole Foods, is a USDA-certified organic grocer based in Austin, Texas. When it was still an independent company, Whole Foods earned a $10 billion market cap and reached 176th place on the Fortune 500 list, with hundreds of stores across the country.

Then, in 2017, Amazon acquired Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, marking the e-commerce giant’s first foray into brick-and-mortar retailing. To date, Whole Foods remains Amazon’s most expensive acquisition.

2. Zappos

Zappos is one of the most successful apparel and footwear retailers on the internet. Founded in 1999, Zappos grew rapidly until Amazon purchased it for $1.2 billion in 2009. Just like Amazon’s Whole Foods acquisition, Zappos was an example of Amazon expanding into new markets. Previously, Amazon had focused exclusively on selling books. By purchasing Zappos, Amazon signaled to the world that it was interested in being more than just a book merchant.

3. Amazon Robotics (Kiva Systems)

When it first began, Amazon Robotics was known as Kiva Systems. Kiva Systems provided automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) for a variety of corporations, including:

The Gap
Walgreens
Staples
Gilt Groupe
Office Depot
Crate & Barrel
Saks 5th Avenue

In 2012, Amazon acquired Kiva Systems for $775 million and rebranded it as Amazon Robotics. Since then, Amazon has allowed all of the robotics manufacturer’s previous contracts to expire, meaning that Kiva’s AS/RS robots now operate exclusively in Amazon warehouses.

Unlike most of its other acquisitions, Amazon has not integrated Amazon Robotics’ products into its e-commerce platform. Instead, Amazon uses them to support its own internal operations.

In the coming years, Amazon Robotics will likely play an increasing role in Amazon’s automated delivery services.

4. PillPack Inc.

PillPack is an online pharmacy based in Manchester, New Hampshire. Founded in 2013, PillPack functions like virtually any other pharmacy—except that it exists almost entirely online. PillPack receives orders for prescription and non-prescription medication, then ships them directly to customers’ homes. In cases of a recurring medication (such as a monthly supply), PillPack automatically sends future doses out on a regular schedule.

Amazon bought PillPack for $753 million in 2018. Because of Amazon’s extensive delivery network, PillPack can deliver medications at remarkable speeds. Amazon also incorporated PillPack into Amazon Care, the company-wide employee healthcare service.

5. Twitch Interactive

Twitch Interactive launched its Twitch livestreaming service in 2011. Even before Amazon acquired it, Twitch was a success story, reaching 55 million monthly active users.

In 2014, Amazon purchased Twitch Interactive for $970 million in an all-cash deal. This acquisition helped spur Amazon’s ambition to expand further into the video game and streaming industries.

6. MGM Holdings Inc.

MGM Holdings is an entertainment company based in Beverly Hills, California. As the parent company of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM), MGM Holdings owns the rights to some of the most successful films in cinematic history, including the James Bond and Rocky franchises.

While MGM Studios goes back to 1924, MGM Holdings was founded in 2005. In May of 2021, Amazon announced that it had purchased MGM Holdings for $8.5 billion. The deal was completed in March of 2022.

MGM Holdings is Amazon’s second-largest acquisition, topped only by Whole Foods. MGM Holdings enhances Amazon’s catalog of intellectual property, providing a great deal of added value for the Amazon Prime streaming service. This in turn has given Amazon a better chance of competing with other streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+.

7. Audible

Audible is the most popular audiobook platform in the world—and with over 200,000 unique titles in its library, the largest audiobooks platform, too. Amazon purchased Audible for $300 million in 2008, which has proven to be a wise investment. Audible consistently ranks among Amazon’s most profitable subsidiaries.

8. Goodreads

Goodreads is a social cataloging website that lets users catalog and review the books they’ve read and recommend books to one another. Users can also form groups to discuss books or adjacent topics.

Goodreads was founded in 2006 and acquired by Amazon in 2013 for an undisclosed sum. Now, when a user discovers a book through Goodreads, they can purchase it as an e-book or audiobook from Amazon Kindle or Audible.

9. IMDb

IMDb (an abbreviation for Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films and TV series. This information includes:

Plot summaries
Cast lists
Reviews
Parent guides
Technical specs
Trivia

IMDb was founded in 1990. Then, in 1998, it became one of Amazon’s earliest acquisitions.

Amazon bought IMDb as part of a package deal, paying $55 million for IMDb and two other companies (Telebook and Bookpages, neither of which exist anymore). Since then, IMDb has remained one of Amazon’s most popular subsidiaries.

10. Ring

Ring is a home security/smart home company founded in 2013. While known primarily for its WiFi-powered Ring Video Doorbell, Ring also manufactures other home security devices such as the Ring Alarm and Always Home Camera.

In 2018, Amazon bought Ring for an estimated cost of between $1.2–$1.8 billion.

11. Lab126

Lab126 is the subsidiary Amazon uses to develop and manufacture its branded lines of integrated consumer electronics, such as the Kindle, Echo, and Fire TV. Amazon launched Lab126 and has owned it since the beginning, rather than acquiring an existing company.

12. Amazon Fresh

Just like Lab126, Amazon launched Amazon Fresh itself. Amazon Fresh is a grocery delivery service available in most major U.S. cities, as well as a number of international cities including:

Berlin
Hamburg
London
Milan
Munich
Rome
Tokyo

Using Amazon Fresh, customers can order groceries online, as well as certain non-food household items, such as paper towels. Amazon Fresh then delivers the items to the customer’s home on the same day or the next day, depending on what time they place their order.

Though Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods both serve similar markets as subsidiaries of Amazon, they operate independently of one another.

13. AbeBooks

AbeBooks is an online marketplace offering books, fine art, and collectibles from sellers in over 50 countries. AbeBooks was founded in 1995 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and became known as a prime source for rare and out-of-print books. In 2008, Amazon acquired AbeBooks for an estimated cost of between $90-$120 million.

14. Woot

Woot (often stylized as Woot!) is an online retailer based near Dallas, Texas. Known for its special daily deals and limited-time offers, Woot sells products in a wide variety of categories, including: