Back in 1994, Jeff Bezos almost cold Amazon something completely different – “relentless.”
What happened: Bezos loved the name so much that he even registered relentless.com (go ahead, type that into your browser – it still redirects to Amazon today).
But here’s the thing – his friends weren’t exactly thrilled with the name. They thought it sounded a little too aggressive, maybe even creepy.
So Bezos went back to the drawing board and eventually landed on “Amazon,” inspired by the world’s largest river—a rather fitting name for what would become the world’s largest online marketplace.
Also See: Jeff Bezos Described His Unique Life Philosophy That Follows A Dorky Framework Revolving Around ‘Regret Minimization’
Why it’s important: The irony? Although Bezos didn’t end up using the name “Relentless,” it turned out to be a pretty spot-on description of how he’s built his business empire. What started as an online bookstore has grown into… well, almost everything.
For example, while Bezos is no longer the CEO of Amazon, he continues to remain involved with the company as executive chairman. He is also the e-commerce giant’s largest shareholder.
In the year 2000, he decided to shoot for the stars. The tech mogul founded an aerospace company blue origin, a rival of Elon Musk’s SpaceXthat aims to reduce the cost of space travel and increase safety.
In 2013, Bezos bought The Washington Post for $250 million. This purchase also helped intensify the rift between Bezos and Musk.
Subscribe to Benzinga Tech Trends Newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox.
Other companies that were bought by Amazon include Whole Foods Market, Audible, Zappos and Ryk.
In 2023, Amazon also entered the healthcare space by acquiring a primary healthcare provider A medical for 3.9 billion dollars.
And that’s not even including all the companies he’s invested in Airbnb, Uberand Nextdoor, to name a few.
Amazon currently has a market cap of $1.984 trillion, making it the fourth most valuable company in the world after Apple, Nvidia, Microsoftand Alphabet. Meanwhile, Bezos’ net worth has reached $212 billion, putting him second behind Musk in the ranking of Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index.
As Bezos continues to push boundaries with space exploration and healthcare ventures, the rejected name from 1994 feels less like a dodged bullet and more like a blueprint for his entire career. Who knew a rejected domain name could tell such a story?
Image via Shutterstock
Read next:
Disclaimer: This content was produced in part with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Market news and data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.