Amazon vs MercadoLibre: Founders, CEOs and History
Amazon was founded in 1994 by Jeffrey Preston Bezos and is led by Andy Jassy. MercadoLibre was founded in 1999 by Marcos Galperin, Hernan Kazah and is led by Ariel Szarfsztejn.
Company facts
Amazon
- Founded
- 1994
- Headquarters
- Seattle, Washington
- Current CEO
- Andy Jassy
- Employees
- 1,576,000
MercadoLibre
- Founded
- 1999
- Headquarters
- Montevideo, Uruguay
- Current CEO
- Ariel Szarfsztejn
- Employees
- 123,670
Founders
Amazon
Jeffrey Preston Bezos
Amazon was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos, an electrical engineering and computer science graduate from Princeton who was working as a paid quantitative analyst at the Wall Street firm D. E. Shaw & Co.
MercadoLibre
Marcos Galperin
Marcos Galperin is an Argentine entrepreneur who founded MercadoLibre in 1999 and was its CEO for more than 26 years. He led it through the dot-com crash, the 2001 eBay deal, the 2007 NASDAQ IPO and the build-out of Mercado Pago and Mercado Envios.
Hernan Kazah
Hernan Kazah co-founded MercadoLibre and held senior operating and finance roles during its first decade. He left around 2011 and co-founded Kaszek Ventures, one of Latin America's best-known venture capital firms.
CEOs and their tenures
Amazon
- Jeffrey P. Bezos1994–2021
Founder & CEO
Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1994 and was chief executive until July 2021. He moved the company beyond books in 1998, opened the store to third-party sellers in November 2000, launched Prime in 2005, funded AWS from 2006, and bought Whole Foods Market in 2017.…
Source - Andrew R. Jassy2021–present
CEO
Andy Jassy became Amazon's chief executive in July 2021. He started the AWS business in 2003 and led it as it grew into the largest cloud infrastructure provider by revenue, reporting $128.7 billion of net sales and $45.6 billion of operating income in FY2025.
Source
MercadoLibre
- Marcos Galperin1999–2025
Founder & CEO (now Executive Chairman)
Led the company for more than 26 years before becoming executive chairman on January 1, 2026.
Source - Ariel Szarfsztejn2026–present
Chief Executive Officer
Joined in 2017 and ran the commerce business; became CEO on January 1, 2026, when founder Marcos Galperin became executive chairman.
Source
Timeline: Amazon and MercadoLibre side by side
1994Amazon
Amazon Founded
Jeff Bezos incorporated the company as Cadabra, Inc. in Washington state on July 5, 1994, after leaving D. E. Shaw. He and MacKenzie Scott drove from New York to Seattle, and Bezos began building the website in the garage of a rented house in Bellevue.
1995Amazon
Amazon.com Launches
Amazon.com went live on July 16, 1995, selling books. In the first month the site shipped orders to all fifty US states and forty-five other countries.
1997Amazon
IPO on NASDAQ
Amazon went public on May 14, 1997, selling 3,000,000 shares at $18 each on NASDAQ under the ticker AMZN, raising $54 million. Net sales that year grew 838% to $147.8 million.
1999MercadoLibre
MercadoLibre Founded in Buenos Aires: Marcos Galperin and Hernan Kazah established MercadoLibre in a garage in Buenos Aires, securing seed funding from HM Capital after a Stanford pitch.
2000Amazon
Third-Party Marketplace Launch
Amazon Marketplace launched in November 2000, letting third parties sell on the same product pages as Amazon. Third-party sellers accounted for 61% of paid units by the fourth quarter of 2025.
2001MercadoLibre
Strategic Partnership with eBay: eBay acquired a 19.5% stake in MercadoLibre in exchange for its Brazilian subsidiary iBazar, providing vital capital to survive the dot-com crash.
2003MercadoLibre
Launch of Mercado Pago: Introduced Mercado Pago to provide secure digital escrow and payment processing across Latin America's cash-reliant economies.
2005Amazon
Amazon Prime Introduced
Amazon announced Prime on February 2, 2005, a $79-per-year membership with unlimited two-day delivery on about one million items. The US price is now $139 a year.
2006Amazon
AWS Launches Cloud Services
Amazon Web Services announced Amazon S3 on March 14, 2006, followed by EC2 later that year. AWS reported $128.7 billion of net sales and $45.6 billion of operating income in FY2025.
2007Amazon
Kindle E-Reader Launch
Amazon released the first Kindle in November 2007 at $399, with free cellular downloads over Whispernet and the Kindle self-publishing service launched the same day.
2007MercadoLibre
Landmark Initial Public Offering on NASDAQ: Listed on NASDAQ under ticker symbol MELI, becoming the first Latin American technology company to debut on the US exchange.
2012Amazon
Kiva Systems Acquisition
Amazon agreed in March 2012 to buy Kiva Systems for approximately $775 million in cash, bringing warehouse robotics in house. Kiva became Amazon Robotics.
2013MercadoLibre
Launch of Mercado Envios Logistics: Built proprietary fulfillment infrastructure and warehousing to overcome regional courier inefficiencies and accelerate delivery times.
2014Amazon
Twitch Acquisition
Amazon agreed in August 2014 to acquire Twitch Interactive for approximately $970 million in cash, adding live game streaming and a creator community to its media assets.
2015Amazon
Echo and Alexa Reach Everyone
Amazon introduced the Echo speaker and the Alexa assistant in November 2014 for Prime members by invitation, then made Echo generally available in the US in June 2015.
2017Amazon
Whole Foods Acquisition
Amazon agreed in June 2017 to buy Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion including debt, adding roughly 460 stores and a physical grocery base for delivery and pickup.
2017MercadoLibre
Adoption of NASDAQ-100 & Offline POS Expansion: Included in the NASDAQ-100 index; scaled Mercado Pago into offline brick-and-mortar retail via mobile QR codes and Point mPOS card readers.
2020MercadoLibre
Pandemic Acceleration & Meli Air Launch: Pandemic lockdowns accelerated online shopping and digital payments across Latin America; MercadoLibre began operating dedicated Meli Air cargo flights in Braz…
2021Amazon
Andy Jassy Becomes CEO
Amazon announced on February 2, 2021 that Jeff Bezos would move to executive chair and Andy Jassy would become CEO. The handover took place on July 5, 2021.
2022Amazon
MGM Acquisition Completed
Amazon completed its acquisition of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in March 2022 at a purchase price of $8.45 billion, adding a library of more than 4,000 films and 17,000 television episodes to Prime Video.
2023Amazon
One Medical Deal Closes and the FTC Sues
Amazon completed its $3.9 billion acquisition of One Medical in February 2023. In September 2023 the FTC and 17 state attorneys general sued Amazon over marketplace practices, and that case is still unresolved.
2024MercadoLibre
Revenue passes $20 billion: Revenue reached $20.8 billion and net income $1.9 billion, as Mercado Ads and the credit business scaled.
2025Amazon
One Millionth Robot and Project Rainier
Amazon deployed its one millionth robot in mid-2025 across more than 300 facilities and released the DeepFleet AI model to route them. In October 2025 AWS brought Project Rainier, a cluster of roughly 500,000 Trainium2 chips built with Anthropic, fully online.
2025Amazon
FTC Prime Settlement and the Amazon Leo Rebrand
Amazon agreed in September 2025 to pay $2.5 billion to settle the FTC's Prime enrollment case, $1 billion in civil penalties plus $1.5 billion in customer refunds.
2025MercadoLibre
$28.9B revenue year: Revenue grew 39% to $28.9 billion and net income reached about $2.0 billion. In May 2025, the company announced Galperin's planned transition to executive chairman.
2026Amazon
Record FY2025 Results and 30,000 Corporate Cuts
Amazon reported FY2025 net sales of $716.9 billion, operating income of $80.0 billion, and net income of $77.7 billion. In January 2026 it cut about 16,000 corporate roles, following 14,000 in October 2025.
2026MercadoLibre
New CEO and first $10B quarter: Ariel Szarfsztejn became CEO on January 1, 2026, with Marcos Galperin as executive chairman.
Acquisitions
Amazon
- One Medical2023$3.9B
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer2022$8.4B
- Ring2018Undisclosed
- PillPack2018$753M
- Whole Foods Market2017$13.7B
- Twitch Interactive2014$970M
MercadoLibre
- Kangu (Brazilian PUDO Logistics Network)2021Undisclosed
- Redelcom2021Undisclosed
- DeRemate.com (from DeRemate Holding)2008Undisclosed
Questions about Amazon vs MercadoLibre
Who is the CEO of Amazon.com, Inc. and MercadoLibre, Inc.?
Amazon.com, Inc. is led by Andy Jassy and MercadoLibre, Inc. is led by Ariel Szarfsztejn. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Amazon.com, Inc. founded vs MercadoLibre, Inc.?
Amazon.com, Inc. was founded in 1994 — 5 years before MercadoLibre, Inc., which was founded in 1999. Amazon.com, Inc.'s longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger MercadoLibre, Inc..
How many employees does Amazon.com, Inc. have compared to MercadoLibre, Inc.?
Amazon.com, Inc. employs approximately 1,576,000 people, while MercadoLibre, Inc. employs approximately 123,670. Amazon.com, Inc. has the larger workforce at 1,576,000 employees, compared to MercadoLibre, Inc.'s 123,670. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Amazon.com, Inc. and MercadoLibre, Inc. headquartered?
Amazon.com, Inc. is headquartered in United States and MercadoLibre, Inc. is headquartered in Uruguay. Their different home markets mean they may face different regulatory frameworks, tax regimes, and currency exposure.
Who founded Amazon.com, Inc. and MercadoLibre, Inc.?
Amazon.com, Inc. was founded by Jeffrey Preston Bezos. MercadoLibre, Inc. was founded by Marcos Galperin, Hernan Kazah.
Which company has a longer operating history — Amazon.com, Inc. or MercadoLibre, Inc.?
Amazon.com, Inc. has been operating for approximately 32 years, making it the more established of the two companies. MercadoLibre, Inc. has been in operation for around 27 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Amazon vs MercadoLibre overview