# Amazon — Capital Time Machine

Amazon’s early common-stock investments and Series A preferred financing preceded its 1997 IPO. Preferred shares converted six-for-one, before later public stock splits.

Canonical citation: https://capitaltimemachine.com/private/amazon

Ticker: AMZN
Sector: E-commerce & cloud
Public-market route: IPO
Evidence reviewed: 2026-09-24

## How to use this research

Selected historical funding and listing evidence, not a complete private cap table or live quote. Funding totals, company valuations and per-share prices are different measures. A hypothetical value is not actual sale proceeds; investor access is not established.

## Funding and listing history

### family — Early family common-stock purchases

Date: 1995
Event type: Private common financing

Miguel Bezos purchased 582,528 shares and the Gise Family Trust purchased 847,716 shares at the filing’s rounded $0.1717 common-share price. These were specific private transactions.

Reported price: $0.1717, rounded filing basis

Source: [Amazon 1997 registration statement and agreements](https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001018724/eca84be1-84c3-447f-abf6-ae42ba20bd98.pdf)
Source location: Certain Transactions; preferred stock note; June 21, 1996 purchase agreement. Preliminary IPO estimates are not used as final offer prices.

### angel — Angel common-stock investment

Date: 1995-12
Event type: Private common financing

Tom Alberg purchased 150,000 common shares at the filing’s rounded $0.3333 per share.

Reported price: $0.3333, rounded filing basis

Source: [Amazon 1997 registration statement and agreements](https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001018724/eca84be1-84c3-447f-abf6-ae42ba20bd98.pdf)
Source location: Certain Transactions; preferred stock note; June 21, 1996 purchase agreement. Preliminary IPO estimates are not used as final offer prices.

### A — Kleiner Perkins Series A

Date: 1996-06-21
Event type: Private preferred financing

569,396 preferred shares were sold for $14.05 each. Each preferred share converted into six IPO-basis common shares.

Reported capital or financing: $8,000,013.80 gross, calculated from the agreement

Reported price: $14.05 per preferred share

Source: [Amazon 1997 registration statement and agreements](https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001018724/eca84be1-84c3-447f-abf6-ae42ba20bd98.pdf)
Source location: Certain Transactions; preferred stock note; June 21, 1996 purchase agreement. Preliminary IPO estimates are not used as final offer prices.

### A-directors — Additional Series A purchases

Date: 1997-01–1997-02
Event type: Private preferred financing

Scott Cook and Patricia Stonesifer each purchased 2,500 preferred shares at $40; the same six-for-one IPO conversion applies.

Reported capital or financing: $200,000 combined

Reported price: $40 per preferred share

Source: [Amazon 1997 registration statement and agreements](https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001018724/eca84be1-84c3-447f-abf6-ae42ba20bd98.pdf)
Source location: Certain Transactions; preferred stock note; June 21, 1996 purchase agreement. Preliminary IPO estimates are not used as final offer prices.

### ipo — Amazon goes public

Date: 1997-05-15
Event type: IPO

The final offer price was $18, superseding preliminary estimates in the registration statement.

Reported price: $18

Source: [Amazon investor FAQ](https://ir.aboutamazon.com/faqs/default.aspx)
Source location: May 15, 1997 IPO at $18 and public stock-split history.

### splits — Public share splits

Date: 1998–2022
Event type: Share basis

2 × 3 × 2 × 20 produces 240 common shares per IPO share. The calculator applies the splits by ending price date.

Source: [Amazon investor FAQ](https://ir.aboutamazon.com/faqs/default.aspx)
Source location: May 15, 1997 IPO at $18 and public stock-split history.

Source: [Amazon 2024 Form 10-K](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1018724/000101872425000004/amzn-20241231.htm)
Source location: Share information and June 2022 twenty-for-one split.

## Documented share calculations

### A — 1996 Series A · $14.05

Starting price: 14.05 USD per starting share
Starting date or context: Series A · Jun 21, 1996

Base conversion: 6 common-share equivalents per starting share, before dated public splits

Six IPO-basis common shares per preferred share. The six-for-one conversion already incorporates pre-IPO common splits; do not apply them twice.

Public trading begins: 1997-05-15
Supported ending dates begin: 1997-05-15
Share basis reviewed through: 2022-06-06

Documented endpoint: IPO offer price · $18; 18 USD per share on 1997-05-15.

Formula: amount ÷ 14.05 × (6) × applicable dated public splits × ending share price. 

Source: [Amazon 1997 registration statement and agreements](https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001018724/eca84be1-84c3-447f-abf6-ae42ba20bd98.pdf)
Source location: Certain Transactions; preferred stock note; June 21, 1996 purchase agreement. Preliminary IPO estimates are not used as final offer prices.

Source: [Amazon investor FAQ](https://ir.aboutamazon.com/faqs/default.aspx)
Source location: May 15, 1997 IPO at $18 and public stock-split history.

### A-directors — 1997 Series A purchases · $40

Starting price: 40 USD per starting share
Starting date or context: Jan–Feb 1997 director purchases

Base conversion: 6 common-share equivalents per starting share, before dated public splits

Same preferred class, purchased later at a different price. Six IPO-basis common shares per preferred share; later public splits apply separately.

Public trading begins: 1997-05-15
Supported ending dates begin: 1997-05-15
Share basis reviewed through: 2022-06-06

Documented endpoint: IPO offer price · $18; 18 USD per share on 1997-05-15.

Formula: amount ÷ 40 × (6) × applicable dated public splits × ending share price. 

Source: [Amazon 1997 registration statement and agreements](https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001018724/eca84be1-84c3-447f-abf6-ae42ba20bd98.pdf)
Source location: Certain Transactions; preferred stock note; June 21, 1996 purchase agreement. Preliminary IPO estimates are not used as final offer prices.

Source: [Amazon investor FAQ](https://ir.aboutamazon.com/faqs/default.aspx)
Source location: May 15, 1997 IPO at $18 and public stock-split history.

### ipo — IPO offer price · $18

Starting price: 18 USD per starting share
Starting date or context: IPO · 1997-05-15

Base conversion: 1 common-share equivalents per starting share, before dated public splits

Starts at the public offering, not a private funding round. Uses the original offer price and the share adjustments documented below.

Public trading begins: 1997-05-15
Supported ending dates begin: 1997-05-15
Share basis reviewed through: 2022-06-06

The ending share price and its date must be supplied by the user.

Formula: amount ÷ 18 × (1) × applicable dated public splits × ending share price. 

Source: [Amazon investor FAQ](https://ir.aboutamazon.com/faqs/default.aspx)
Source location: May 15, 1997 IPO at $18 and public stock-split history.

## Later share adjustments

1998-06-02: multiply share units by 2.
Source: [Amazon investor FAQ](https://ir.aboutamazon.com/faqs/default.aspx)
Source location: May 15, 1997 IPO at $18 and public stock-split history.
Source: [Amazon 2024 Form 10-K](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1018724/000101872425000004/amzn-20241231.htm)
Source location: Share information and June 2022 twenty-for-one split.

1999-01-05: multiply share units by 3.
Source: [Amazon investor FAQ](https://ir.aboutamazon.com/faqs/default.aspx)
Source location: May 15, 1997 IPO at $18 and public stock-split history.
Source: [Amazon 2024 Form 10-K](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1018724/000101872425000004/amzn-20241231.htm)
Source location: Share information and June 2022 twenty-for-one split.

1999-09-01: multiply share units by 2.
Source: [Amazon investor FAQ](https://ir.aboutamazon.com/faqs/default.aspx)
Source location: May 15, 1997 IPO at $18 and public stock-split history.
Source: [Amazon 2024 Form 10-K](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1018724/000101872425000004/amzn-20241231.htm)
Source location: Share information and June 2022 twenty-for-one split.

2022-06-06: multiply share units by 20.
Source: [Amazon investor FAQ](https://ir.aboutamazon.com/faqs/default.aspx)
Source location: May 15, 1997 IPO at $18 and public stock-split history.
Source: [Amazon 2024 Form 10-K](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1018724/000101872425000004/amzn-20241231.htm)
Source location: Share information and June 2022 twenty-for-one split.

No separate share-class distribution is modeled.

## Coverage gaps and limitations

- Private investment access, allocations and minimum investment amounts are not established by these records.

- Results exclude dividends, fees, taxes and other distributions; they are illustrative share values, not realized proceeds.

Entered prices and later-date share-basis assumptions are unverified. Excludes fees, taxes, dividends, warrants and other distributions; fractional shares are illustrative. Historical investor allocations, minimums and selling rights are not established.

Methodology: https://capitaltimemachine.com/methodology

Research terms: https://capitaltimemachine.com/terms