Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Jeff Bezos gave the most definitive number on record for the number of customers who pay for a Prime membership with his e-commerce site, saying in an annual letter to shareholders that the total is larger than 100 million. "13 years post-launch, we have exceeded 100 million paid Prime members globally," Bezos wrote in a section of the letter headlined as "recent milestones." He also said that Amazon Music now has "tens of millions of paid customers," and that 2017 was the best year on record for sales of Amazon hardware like Echo speakers and Kindle tablets. Bezos thanked Amazon employees, saying that the company now employs more than 560,000 people, and said that Amazon is working toward allowing Prime memberships to be used at its Whole Foods grocery stores. "We've also begun the technical work needed to recognize Prime members at the point of sale and look forward to offering more Prime benefits to Whole Foods shoppers once that work is completed," he said. Amazon stock gained about 1.5% in after-hours trading Wednesday following the letter's release, after closing with a 1.6% advance at $1,527.84. Shares have gained 30.6% so far this year, while the S&P 500 index has gained 1.2%.
Read the full story: Amazon Prime has more members than Costco, Bezos discloses