Jeff Bezos originally wanted to name Amazon ‘Cadabra,’ and 14 other little-known facts about the early days of the e-commerce giant

• Amazon and its founder, Jeff Bezos, have come a long way since 1994.
• For instance, Bezos wanted to call the company “Cadabra,” but was talked out of it.
• Plus, the team rang a bell each time a purchase was made, but abandoned it when sales soared.
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When Amazon was founded on July 5, 1994, as a website that only sold books, founder Jeff Bezos had a vision for the company’s explosive growth and ecommerce domination.

He knew from the very beginning that he wanted Amazon to be “an everything store.”

Now, Bezos will step aside as CEO after 27 years and tens of billions in gains. In author Brad Stone’s 2013 book on the origins of Amazon, he paints a picture of the early days of the company and how it grew into the behemoth that it is today. 

Jillian D’Onfro contributed to an earlier version of this story.