What started off as a humble online bookstore, today, Amazon is a technology behemoth with a presence beyond just e-commerce. The company has a noticeable presence in logistics, manufacturing, grocery, customer services, real estate, healthcare, even fashion, among a host of other things.
The world's most valuable company with a founder like Jeff Bezos, who is the world's richest man, is evidently something worth talking about. Such is the compelling presence that other companies cannot stop talking about Amazon. According to a recent Quartz analysis, executives of public companies worldwide mentioned 'Amazon' in over 2,300 calls and conference presentations in 2018.
The mention comes up in different contexts. In some instances, it is a company praising Amazon as a business partner, while other times it is a boast of stacking up favourably against one of Amazon's offerings.
One of the most notable industries with a spike in Amazon mentions was healthcare for its rumoured interest in pharmacy and drug distribution. When the company acquired a prescription-management startup, PillPack, for a whopping USD 1 billion, it was enough to swipe off USD 23.5 billion off the market capitalization of the top 10 healthcare companies.
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