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Amazon’s Most Notable Acquisitions to Date

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Most Notable Acquisitions by Amazon

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The Briefing

  • Amazon plans to acquire Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) for $8.45 billion
  • This move would add 4,000 films and 17,000 TV shows to Amazon Studios’ content library

Amazon’s Most Notable Acquisitions To Date

Big Tech just keeps getting bigger.

On May 26, 2021, Amazon announced its plan to acquire Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studios for $8.45 billion, making it the company’s second largest acquisition to date.

Amazon has acquired multiple companies across a variety of sectors from healthcare to entertainment, helping diversify its core revenue. In total, the tech giant has acquired or invested in over 128 different companies over the last 20 years.

Top 10 Amazon Acquisitions by Value

In 2017, Amazon paid $13.7 billion to purchase Whole Foods Market—this remains the company’s largest acquisition to date.

The Whole Foods acquisition provided brick-and-mortar space for Amazon to sell some of its flagship devices, like the Echo Dot. It also allowed Amazon to gather valuable shopping data on its customers, to better understand their offline shopping preferences.

Here’s how Amazon’s top 10 acquisitions by value stack up in comparison:

RankCompany AcquiredAnnounced DateAcquisition Value
#1Whole Foods MarketJun 16, 2017$13.7 billion
#2Metro-Goldwyn-MayerMay 26, 2021$8.5 billion
#3ZooxJun 26, 2020$1.2 billion
#4ZapposJul 22, 2009$1.2 billion
#5RingFeb 27, 2018$970 million
#6PillPackJun 28, 2018$839 million
#7TwitchAug 25, 2014$775 million
#8Kiva SystemsMar 19, 2012$753 million
#9SouqMar 27, 2017$580 million
#10QuidsiNov 8, 2010$545 million

Prior to Wednesday’s announcement, the purchase of robotaxi company Zoox was Amazon’s second largest acquisition. According to their reported agreement, Amazon has the rights to use Zoox’s transport technology for ride-hailing or logistics (delivery) services.

The acquisition of MGM will add 21,000 films and TV shows to Amazon’s content library, helping Amazon keep up with the fierce competition in the content streaming industry. MGM owns the rights to “The Handmaid’s Tale” series and “Shark Tank,” as well as the James Bond and Rocky franchises.

Full List: Amazon’s Most Notable Acquisitions

While far from exhaustive, here’s a look at some of Amazon’s most notable acquisitions since 1998, as shown in the graphic:

YearCompany AcquiredAcquisition ValuePost-Acquisition Status
1998IMDb$55,000,000Active under own name
1999LiveBid.com$300,000,000Incorporated/defunct
1999PlanetAll$280,000,000Incorporated/defunct
1999Alexa Internet$250,000,000Active under own name
1999Junglee$250,000,000Incorporated/defunct
2008Audible$300,000,000Active under own name
2009Zappos$1,200,000,000Active under own name
2010Quidsi$545,000,000Incorporated/defunct
2011LoveFilm$312,000,000Incorporated/defunct
2012Kiva Systems$775,000,000Incorporated/defunct
2014Twitch Interactive$970,000,000Active under own name
2015Elemental Technologies$500,000,000Incorporated/defunct
2015Annapurna Labs$350,000,000Incorporated/defunct
2017Whole Foods Market$13,700,000,000Active under own name
2017Souq.com$580,000,000Incorporated/defunct
2018Ring$839,000,000Active under own name
2018PillPack$753,000,000Active under own name
2019CloudEndure$250,000,000Incorporated/defunct
2019Eero$97,000,000Incorporated/defunct
2020Zoox$1,200,000,000Active under own name
2021Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer$8,450,000,000Active under own name

»Like this? Then you might enjoy this full length article on the Biggest Tech Mergers and Acquisitions of 2020

Where does this data come from?

Source: Crunchbase
Notes: Values are in $USD, non-inflation adjusted

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Economy

Charted: Public Trust in the Federal Reserve

Public trust in the Federal Reserve chair has hit its lowest point in 20 years. Get the details in this infographic.

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The Briefing

  • Gallup conducts an annual poll to gauge the U.S. public’s trust in the Federal Reserve
  • After rising during the COVID-19 pandemic, public trust has fallen to a 20-year low

 

Charted: Public Trust in the Federal Reserve

Each year, Gallup conducts a survey of American adults on various economic topics, including the country’s central bank, the Federal Reserve.

More specifically, respondents are asked how much confidence they have in the current Fed chairman to do or recommend the right thing for the U.S. economy. We’ve visualized these results from 2001 to 2023 to see how confidence levels have changed over time.

Methodology and Results

The data used in this infographic is also listed in the table below. Percentages reflect the share of respondents that have either a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence.

YearFed chair% Great deal or Fair amount
2023Jerome Powell36%
2022Jerome Powell43%
2021Jerome Powell55%
2020Jerome Powell58%
2019Jerome Powell50%
2018Jerome Powell45%
2017Janet Yellen45%
2016Janet Yellen38%
2015Janet Yellen42%
2014Janet Yellen37%
2013Ben Bernanke42%
2012Ben Bernanke39%
2011Ben Bernanke41%
2010Ben Bernanke44%
2009Ben Bernanke49%
2008Ben Bernanke47%
2007Ben Bernanke50%
2006Ben Bernanke41%
2005Alan Greenspan56%
2004Alan Greenspan61%
2003Alan Greenspan65%
2002Alan Greenspan69%
2001Alan Greenspan74%

Data for 2023 collected April 3-25, with this statement put to respondents: “Please tell me how much confidence you have [in the Fed chair] to recommend the right thing for the economy.”

We can see that trust in the Federal Reserve has fluctuated significantly in recent years.

For example, under Alan Greenspan, trust was initially high due to the relative stability of the economy. The burst of the dotcom bubble—which some attribute to Greenspan’s easy credit policies—resulted in a sharp decline.

On the flip side, public confidence spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was likely due to Jerome Powell’s decisive actions to provide support to the U.S. economy throughout the crisis.

Measures implemented by the Fed include bringing interest rates to near zero, quantitative easing (buying government bonds with newly-printed money), and emergency lending programs to businesses.

Confidence Now on the Decline

After peaking at 58%, those with a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the Fed chair have tumbled to 36%, the lowest number in 20 years.

This is likely due to Powell’s hard stance on fighting post-pandemic inflation, which has involved raising interest rates at an incredible speed. While these rate hikes may be necessary, they also have many adverse effects:

  • Negative impact on the stock market
  • Increases the burden for those with variable-rate debts
  • Makes mortgages and home buying less affordable

Higher rates have also prompted many U.S. tech companies to shrink their workforces, and have been a factor in the regional banking crisis, including the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

Where does this data come from?

Source: Gallup (2023)

Data Notes: Results are based on telephone interviews conducted April 3-25, 2023, with a random sample of –1,013—adults, ages 18+, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on this sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. See source for details.

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