Amazon

Amazon in brief

• Rank: #7 of 100 in America's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026; #1 of 9 in Retail & E-Commerce.
• WCRC Power Score: 81.59 out of 100.
• Founded: 1994, by Jeff Bezos.
• Owner: Amazon.com, Inc., Seattle, Washington.
• Leadership: Andy Jassy, President and CEO.
• Latest revenue: $716.9bn revenue (FY2025, +12.4%), as per company filings.

What makes Amazon powerful

Amazon's brand rests on three promises: huge choice, low prices and fast delivery. Prime ties those promises together, and its logistics network keeps raising the bar. In the third quarter of 2026, Prime members received more than 1.5 billion items the same day or overnight, Amazon's fastest third quarter on record. The brand now reaches into groceries, pharmacy, video, live sport and smart speakers.

Behind the store sits AWS, the cloud business that many of the world's apps run on. AWS grew 39% in the third quarter of 2026, its fastest pace in nearly five years. Amazon's own AI shows up in shopping too. The company said more than 400 million customers used Alexa for Shopping in the 12 months to September 2026, and Alexa+ expanded to Australia, India and Japan.

Amazon Pharmacy now offers prescription delivery within three hours in more than 350 US cities.

Why Amazon ranks #7

Amazon sits at #7 in the US ranking, just behind Netflix at #6 and Microsoft at #5, and ahead of Disney at #8 and Coca-Cola at #9. It scores very high on digital and financial strength and on product and innovation, thanks to AWS and its delivery network. Netflix and Microsoft edge ahead on consumer trust. Amazon stays above Disney and Coca-Cola because it is part of so many weekly routines, from shopping to streaming.

The Achilles' heel

Amazon's weak spot is trust in how it treats customers, workers and sellers. In September 2025 it agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle Federal Trade Commission claims that it pushed shoppers into Prime and made cancelling hard. A separate FTC antitrust case over its marketplace is set for trial in 2027. Large job cuts have added to the strain, with about 16,000 corporate roles cut in January 2026.

The 2026 story

Amazon's 2025 and 2026 were about cutting costs while spending big on AI. In September 2025 it settled the FTC's Prime case for $2.5 billion. In January 2026 it cut about 16,000 corporate jobs. At the same time, AWS sped up. On October 28, 2026, Amazon reported AWS growth of 39% and the highest company-wide operating margin in its history, while heavy spending on AI data centers pushed free cash flow negative. It also said its Amazon Leo satellite internet service was on track to begin later in 2026.

Pillar profile

Amazon's full 50-parameter profile is published on its World's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026 page.

Versus its nearest rivals

Questions people ask

Also featured in

• Most powerful Retail & E-Commerce brands
• Top 10 Best American Brands
• America's 50 Most Valuable Brands
• Biggest American Brands by Revenue
• American Global Powerhouses
• Most powerful brands in Washington

Key facts

Sources

• Annual report (Form 10-K) and financial results of Amazon.com, Inc. filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission
• Company website, official announcements and press releases
• Published interviews and statements by the leadership
• WCRC Business Intelligence Unit research: consumer sentiment, ratings and reviews, search demand, media and social data