Jeff Bezos is has acquired a lot of businesses since starting Amazon – Zappos, Audible, IMDB, and most recently Whole Foods (for $13.7 billion dollars).

On top of acquiring those businesses for Amazon – he also has diversified his own interests through Bezos Expeditions and as an angel investor. 

Here is a chart to put things in perspective.  Click on the image to see the whole infographic.

 

via VisualCapitalist

 

To grow the business, their customer base, and their competitive advantage … Amazon and Bezos re-invest heavily by aggressively acquiring companies and technologies – even though that strategy virtually eliminates Amazon's profit.

Despite minimal profits (literally less than a handful of profitable quarters since it started in 1994), Amazon has a market cap of roughly $470 billion in market capitalization.  They've shown that there's a new algorithm for success – it's about vision and market domination. It is a long game with big stakes … and it looks like he's winning.

They've shown that there's a new algorithm for success – it's about vision and market domination. It is a long game with big stakes … and it looks like he's winning.

But You'd Still Call Them A Success

"Bezos recently told shareholders that the goal is to 'experiment patiently, accept failures, plant seeds, protect saplings, and double down when you see customer delight.'" 

via Forbes

It's a similar idea to one that I've adopted – though on a different scale.

When people first look at Capitalogix they see a hedge fund – but that is just an application of our core capabilities.  Internally, we know that we are an innovation engine that uses domain expertise in algorithmic trading, data science, and high-performance computing to generate something new. 

Edges decay or disappear faster than ever before – that's what drives our pursuit of more ways to win.

When changing the way people play a game –  you can't play by the same rules people used to.