Amazon Buys Zappos for 800 Million

By o2smedia | Jul 23, 2009

Amazon recently purchased zappos.com for 800mil. Why does it matter..well it doesn’t but this gives me a chance to make a point about Biz. Everyone knows Amazon for being a powerhouse of a online company but yet they still operate other sites outside of the core model. Many do not know that amazon runs Endless.com which compete with zappos or the numerous side projects they have done and continue to operate. My point is that no matter what your are doing. it is smart to venture into other projects becuase you never know when your star company may take a fall. below is a list of all the Amazon activity that has occurred over the years that the generic public never really pays attention to! So when you have a great idea and you think…..no i am doing fine with my current business. Just remember..if you want to really grow you need to keep on the grind no matter how good or bad you are doing!

In April 1998, Amazon bought the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).
In August 1998, Amazon bought Cambridge, Massachusetts-based PlanetAll for 800,000 shares of Amazon stock. PlanetAll operated a web-based address book, calendar, and reminder service. In the same deal, Amazon acquired Sunnyvale-based Junglee.com, an XML-based data mining startup for 1.6 million shares of Amazon stock. The two deals together were valued at about $280 million at the time.
In June 1999, Amazon bought Alexa Internet, Accept.com, and Exchange.com in a set of stock deals worth approximately $645 million.
In 2003, Amazon purchased the rival online music retailer CD Now.
In 2004, Amazon purchased Joyo.com, a Chinese e-commerce website. It also debuted A9.com, a company focused on researching and building innovative technology.
In March 2005, Amazon acquired BookSurge, a print on demand company, and Mobipocket.com, an eBook software company.
In July 2005, Amazon purchased CreateSpace.com (formerly CustomFlix), a Scotts Valley, California-based distributor of on-demand DVDs.^[37] Since the acquisition, CreateSpace has expanded its on-line services to include on-demand books and CDs, as well as video downloads. On July 30, 2007, the National Archives announced that it would make thousands of historic films available for purchase through CreateSpace.^[38]
In February 2006, Amazon acquired Shopbop, a Madison, Wisconsin-based retailer of designer clothing and accessories for women.^[39]
In May 2007, Amazon acquired dpreview.com, a London-based digital photography review website created by Phil Askey as his personal hobby website and Brilliance Audio, the largest independent publisher of audiobooks in the United States.^[40]
In January 2007 created Endless.com, a separate e-commerce brand focusing on shoes^[41].
In January 2008, Amazon announced that it would acquire audiobook provider Audible.com for $300 million in cash.
In June 2008, Amazon announced that it had acquired Fabric.com, an online fabric store.^[42]
In July 2008, Amazon’s IMDb subsidiary purchased Box Office Mojo, a site that tracks movie sales in theatres.^[43]
In August 2008, Amazon announced it had an agreement to purchase Victoria, B.C. based AbeBooks, seller of new, used, out of print and rare books.^[44] Later that month Amazon announced that it would acquire Seattle-based Shelfari, a book-based social network site, for an undisclosed sum.^[45] As part of its acquisition of Abebooks Amazon also got an additional stake in Shelfari’s competitor LibraryThing, which AbeBooks had previously purchased a 40 percent stake in, and whole ownership of Bookfinder.com, Gojaba.com, and listing-management service FillZ, all owned by AbeBooks at the time of acquisition.
In October 2008 acquired Reflexive Entertainment^[46], a casual video game development company.
In July 2009 Amazon agreed to acquire Zappos^[47], an online shoe and apparel retailer. The deal will close this fall.