When Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1994, he didn’t just open an online store out of a garage in Bellevue, Washington. He created a globe-spanning business ready to squeeze every last drop from workers, sellers, consumers, and the planet. The pandemic offered the company the chance to squeeze much more: it doubled its workforce and tripled its profits.

Amazon’s geographic expansion continues apace. In 2023, Amazon plans to enter at least five more countries: Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Nigeria, and South Africa. Even with some slowed growth in recent months, Amazon is stronger — and more profitable — than it was three years ago.

Amazon is not just the marketplace. It makes and sells its own products through a sprawling global supply chain. And most of its profits flow from its cloud services arm, Amazon Web Services, which now controls a third of the worldwide market. With Whole Foods, Amazon has a foot in the grocery industry. With the recent acquisition of One Medical, the corporation continues to make headway in the health care sector. Amazon has also become a big player in the entertainment industry — whether that’s Prime Video or Twitch, the live streaming video platform.