Amazon vs Roku: Founders, CEOs and History
Amazon was founded in 1994 by Jeffrey Preston Bezos and is led by Andy Jassy. Roku was founded in 2002 by Anthony Wood and is led by Anthony Wood.
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.
Roku
Anthony Wood
Anthony Wood is the founder, chairman and CEO of Roku. He founded ReplayTV in 1997, one of the first DVR companies, and started Roku in 2002 as his sixth company.
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
Roku
- Mustafa Ozgen
President, Devices
Leads Roku's players, Roku-branded TVs and OEM TV programs.
Source - Anthony Wood2002–present
Founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Built Roku into the leading TV streaming platform in the US, Canada and Mexico by hours streamed, with $4.737 billion of revenue in 2025.
Source - Dan Jedda2021–present
Chief Financial Officer
Former Amazon finance executive who oversees Roku's finances and its cost reset after 2023 losses.
Source - Charlie Collier2022–present
President, Roku Media
Former FOX Entertainment and AMC Networks executive who runs The Roku Channel, content and media business.
Source
Timeline: Amazon and Roku 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.
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.
2002Roku
Roku Founded
Anthony Wood founds Roku in Saratoga, California; early products include the HD1000 media player and SoundBridge music player.
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.
2008Roku
First Netflix Streaming Player
Roku releases the $99.99 Roku DVP, the first device built to stream Netflix to a TV.
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.
2014Roku
Roku TV Licensing Begins
Roku starts licensing its OS to TV makers, beginning with TCL and Hisense.
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.
2017Roku
IPO and The Roku Channel
Roku lists on Nasdaq at $14 per share in September and launches The Roku Channel.
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.
2021Roku
Quibi Library and This Old House
Roku acquires the Quibi content library and This Old House for The Roku Channel.
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.
2023Roku
Roku-Branded TVs
Roku launches TVs it designs itself, sold in the US.
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.
2025Roku
Return to Profit
Roku reports $4.737 billion revenue and $88.4 million net income for 2025.
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.
2026Roku
Fox Agrees to Acquire Roku
On June 15, 2026 Fox agrees to buy Roku for $160 per share in cash and stock, about $22 billion in enterprise value; closing expected in the first half of 2027.
Acquisitions
Amazon
- One Medical2023$3.9B
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer2022$8.4B
- Ring2018Undisclosed
- PillPack2018$753M
- Whole Foods Market2017$13.7B
- Twitch Interactive2014$970M
Roku
- Frndly TV2025$185M
- Quibi content library2021Undisclosed
- This Old House (TOH Intermediate Holdings)2021Undisclosed
- Dataxu2019$150M
Questions about Amazon vs Roku
Who is the CEO of Amazon.com, Inc. and Roku, Inc.?
Amazon.com, Inc. is led by Andy Jassy and Roku, Inc. is led by Anthony Wood. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Amazon.com, Inc. founded vs Roku, Inc.?
Amazon.com, Inc. was founded in 1994 — 8 years before Roku, Inc., which was founded in 2002. Amazon.com, Inc.'s longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Roku, Inc..
How many employees does Amazon.com, Inc. have compared to Roku, Inc.?
Amazon.com, Inc. employs approximately 1,576,000 people, while Roku, Inc. employs approximately 3,600. Amazon.com, Inc. has the larger workforce at 1,576,000 employees, compared to Roku, Inc.'s 3,600. 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 Roku, Inc. headquartered?
Both Amazon.com, Inc. and Roku, Inc. are headquartered in United States, meaning they operate under the same primary regulatory and tax environment.
Who founded Amazon.com, Inc. and Roku, Inc.?
Amazon.com, Inc. was founded by Jeffrey Preston Bezos. Roku, Inc. was founded by Anthony Wood.
Which company has a longer operating history — Amazon.com, Inc. or Roku, Inc.?
Amazon.com, Inc. has been operating for approximately 32 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Roku, Inc. has been in operation for around 24 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 Roku overview