Amazon Trivia Quiz Questions With Answers
What is Amazon?
A: Amazon.com, Inc. doing business as Amazon is an American electronic commerce and cloud
computing company.
In 1994, Bezos left his employment as
vice-president of what company?
A: D.
E. Shaw & Co., a
Wall Street firm.
Where did Jeff move to in 1994?
A: Seattle, Washington.
What did Mr. Bezos do in Seattle?
A: He began to work on a business plan for what
would become Amazon.com.
On July 5, 1994, Bezos incorporated the company
in Washington
State with what
name?
A: Cadabra, Inc.
In September 1994, Bezos purchased what URL?
A: Relentless.com.
Jeff
Bezos considered naming his online store
Relentless, but friends told him the name
sounded what?
A: A bit sinister.
Bezos selected the name Amazon by doing what?
A: Looking through the dictionary.
Why did he settle on "Amazon"?
A: Because it was a place that was "exotic and
different", just as he had envisioned for his
Internet enterprise.
The Amazon
River, he noted, was
the biggest river in the world, and he planned
to do what?
A: Make his store the biggest bookstore in the
world.
Additionally, a name that began with "A" was
preferential due to what probability?
A: The probability that it would occur at the
top of an alphabetized list.
After reading a report about the future of the
Internet that projected annual web commerce
growth at 2,300%, what did Jeff Bezos do?
A: He created a list of 20 products that could
be marketed online.
Bezos narrowed the list to what he felt were the
what?
A: The five most promising products, which
included: compact discs, computer hardware,
computer software, videos, and books.
Bezos finally decided that his new business
would sell what?
A: Books online.
Why did he select books?
A: Due to the large worldwide demand for
literature, the low price points for books, and
the huge number of titles available in print.
Where was Amazon founded?
A: In the garage of Bezos' rented home in
Bellevue, Washington.
How much money did Bezos' parents invest in his
venture?
A: Almost $250,000.
When did the company begin service as an online bookstore?
A: In July 1995.
What was the first book sold on Amazon.com?
A: It was Douglas
Hofstadter's Fluid
Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models
of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought.
In the first two months of business, Amazon sold
to all 50 states and how many countries?
A: Over 45.
Within two months, Amazon's sales were up to
how much money per week?
A: $20,000.
In October 1995, what did the company do?
A: It announced itself to the public.
In 1996, it was re-incorporated in what
state?
A:
Delaware.
On what date did Amazon issue its initial
public offering of stock?
A: On May 15, 1997.
At the offering, what was the price?
A: $18 per share.
What symbol did it trade under?
A: The NASDAQ stock
exchange symbol AMZN
In 1999, Time magazine named Bezos
what?
A: The Person
of the Year.
According to sources, Amazon did not expect to
make a profit for how long after it started up?
A: Four to five years.
When did the company finally turn its first
profit?
A: In the fourth quarter of 2001.
How much profit did it turn?
A: $5 million (i.e., 1¢ per share), on revenues
of more than $1 billion.
This profit
margin, though
extremely modest, proved what to skeptics?
A: That Bezos' unconventional business
model could succeed.
