Amazon vs Rakuten: Founders, CEOs and History
Amazon was founded in 1994 by Jeffrey Preston Bezos and is led by Andy Jassy. Rakuten was founded in 1997 by Hiroshi Mikitani and is led by Hiroshi Mikitani.
Company facts
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.
Rakuten
Hiroshi Mikitani
Hiroshi Mikitani founded Rakuten in 1997 after leaving the Industrial Bank of Japan, and has led it as chairman and CEO since.
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
Rakuten
- Hiroshi Mikitani1997–present
Founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Founded Rakuten in 1997 and still leads it as chairman and CEO. Built Ichiba, expanded into card, banking and brokerage, mandated English internally in 2010, and launched Rakuten Mobile.
Source - Masatada Kobayashi1997–2024
Co-Founder
Masatada Kobayashi co-founded Rakuten alongside Hiroshi Mikitani. He was instrumental in establishing the early technical and operational framework of the Rakuten Ichiba marketplace, laying the groundwork for its expansion into a global internet services ecosy…
Source
Timeline: Amazon and Rakuten 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.
1997Rakuten
MDM, Inc. (Rakuten) Founded by Hiroshi Mikitani in Tokyo
Launched Rakuten Ichiba online shopping mall with 13 merchants and 5 employees.
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.
2000Rakuten
Initial Public Offering on JASDAQ
Listed publicly in Tokyo, fueling rapid e-commerce and digital service expansion.
2004Rakuten
Launch of Professional Baseball Team (Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles)
Became the first new NPB baseball franchise in 50 years, establishing national brand trust.
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.
2005Rakuten
Entry into FinTech with Rakuten Card & Bank Acquisitions
Acquired credit card and banking operations, creating the financial engine of the Rakuten Ecosystem.
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.
2010Rakuten
Pioneered 'Englishnization' Corporate Language Mandate
Made English the official internal working language of Rakuten, attracting global engineering talent.
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.
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.
2020Rakuten
Commercial Launch of Rakuten Mobile Open RAN Network
Launched the world's first fully virtualized cloud-native 4G/5G mobile telecommunications network.
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.
2024Rakuten
Rollout of Platinum Band (700 MHz) & Rakuten Symphony Expansion
Commercialized sub-1 GHz frequencies in Japan and expanded global Open RAN software exports.
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.
2025Rakuten
FY2025 Revenue Reaches ¥2.50 Trillion
All three segments grew, lifting revenue 9.5% to ~$16.7 billion (¥2,496.6 billion).
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.
2026Rakuten
First Quarterly Net Profit Since 2020 and Fintech Reorganization
Q2 2026 net income of ~$182 million (¥27.2 billion) on record revenue of ~$4.46 billion (¥665.5 billion); Rakuten Card and Rakuten Securities Holdings move under a new Rakuten Bank group in October 2026.
Acquisitions
Amazon
- One Medical2023$3.9B
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer2022$8.4B
- Ring2018Undisclosed
- PillPack2018$753M
- Whole Foods Market2017$13.7B
- Twitch Interactive2014$970M
Rakuten
- Ebates (Rakuten Rewards)2014$1B
- Viber Media2014$900M
- Kobo Inc.2011$315M
Questions about Amazon vs Rakuten
Who is the CEO of Amazon.com, Inc. and Rakuten?
Amazon.com, Inc. is led by Andy Jassy and Rakuten is led by Hiroshi Mikitani. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Amazon.com, Inc. founded vs Rakuten?
Amazon.com, Inc. was founded in 1994 — 3 years before Rakuten, which was founded in 1997. Amazon.com, Inc.'s longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Rakuten.
How many employees does Amazon.com, Inc. have compared to Rakuten?
Amazon.com, Inc. employs approximately 1,576,000 people, while Rakuten employs approximately 33,000. Amazon.com, Inc. has the larger workforce at 1,576,000 employees, compared to Rakuten's 33,000. 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 Rakuten headquartered?
Amazon.com, Inc. is headquartered in United States and Rakuten is headquartered in Japan. Their different home markets mean they may face different regulatory frameworks, tax regimes, and currency exposure.
Who founded Amazon.com, Inc. and Rakuten?
Amazon.com, Inc. was founded by Jeffrey Preston Bezos. Rakuten was founded by Hiroshi Mikitani.
Which company has a longer operating history — Amazon.com, Inc. or Rakuten?
Amazon.com, Inc. has been operating for approximately 32 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Rakuten has been in operation for around 29 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 Rakuten overview