# Amazon *American multinational retail and technology company; in the Minnesota record, a landholder at Becker named in two at-issue entries* Amazon.com, Inc., which trades as Amazon, is a United States conglomerate. Its businesses span online retail, cloud computing through Amazon Web Services, advertising, streaming and entertainment, and artificial intelligence.[^1] Jeff Bezos started the company in 1994 in Bellevue, Washington. Wikipedia's account lists it as the world's biggest online retailer and the largest company in the world by revenue, both as of 2026.[^1] The company enters the Minnesota record through land at [[Becker]], beside the Sherburne County coal plant. An at-issue entry in the pack's Sherburne energy package states the following:[^2] - Amazon bought 348 acres there for $73.5 million, through an intermediary marketed as [[Elk River Technologies]]. - It planned a multibillion-dollar campus. - It suspended the project in May 2025. The suspension came after [[Minnesota]] regulators declined to fast-track permits for 250 backup diesel generators, and after the state repealed the data center electricity sales-tax exemption. - Amazon still owns the land. A second entry names three companies, [[Google]], [[Microsoft]] and Amazon, that bought or optioned land next to the plant. According to that entry, one of their projects was built.[^3] The pack carries no filed court document, agency release, statute page or deed for these transactions. The Becker facts rest on the two at-issue rows. The underlying sources those rows list (house.mn.gov, startribune.com and datacenterdynamics.com) are not among the pack's citable URLs.[^2][^3] ## Who Bezos founded the company on July 5, 1994, under the name Cadabra. He had moved from New York City to Bellevue to run an online bookstore, and he adopted the name Amazon in November 1994.[^4] As of August 2025, Bezos was executive chairman and Andy Jassy was president and chief executive officer. They sat on a twelve-member board that also included Keith B. Alexander, a former NSA director, and Jamie Gorelick.[^5] In the Minnesota record, the at-issue entries name Amazon as the buyer of the Becker acreage. They name no Amazon officer, and no Minnesota regulator, official or legislator.[^2][^3] ## What Amazon's retail site sells goods across many categories, from books, music and software to groceries, tools, toys and farm supplies. It runs separate storefronts by country, each distinguished by top-level domain.[^6] Its subsidiaries include:[^1] - Amazon Web Services - Zoox - Kuiper Systems - Amazon Lab126 - Ring - Twitch - IMDb - Whole Foods Market Wikipedia's criticism section lists complaints raised against the company. Among them are anti-competitive practices, treatment of workers, opposition to unionization efforts, tax and subsidy deals with governments, and the taking of public subsidies. The record here does not adjudicate those complaints.[^7] At Becker, the stated plan was a multibillion-dollar campus. The at-issue entry describes that project as suspended in May 2025.[^2] ## When Amazon's early dates are as follows:[^4] - **July 16, 1995:** the website went live, buying books directly from wholesalers and publishers. - **May 1997:** the company went public. - **1998:** it added music and videos, and began operating abroad by acquiring online booksellers in the United Kingdom and Germany. The company also had a dispute with Toys "R" Us:[^4] - **2000:** the two signed a ten-year exclusive-supply agreement. - **2004:** the toy retailer sued Amazon. - **2006:** a court allowed Toys "R" Us to unwind the agreement. It was later awarded $51 million in damages. For the Becker matters, the dating is limited: - The first at-issue entry dates the suspension of the Becker project to May 2025. It does not date Amazon's land purchase.[^2] - The second entry dates Microsoft's purchase of 300 acres to February 2024. It gives no date for the Google or Amazon transactions.[^3] ## Where The company's Seattle headquarters comprises more than 40 buildings in the South Lake Union, Denny Triangle and Downtown neighborhoods. From 1998 to 2011 it rented space in the Pacific Medical Center.[^8] Other major sites include:[^8] - a European headquarters in Luxembourg; - a UK headquarters at Principal Place in London; - a campus at Nanakramguda in Hyderabad, opened August 21, 2019, which is its largest; - an Africa headquarters in Cape Town, opened December 2023; - a campus in Bellevue. The Minnesota land lies at Becker, beside the Sherburne County coal plant.[^2][^3] ## Why The first at-issue entry places Amazon's May 2025 suspension after two state actions:[^2] - regulators declining to fast-track the generator permits; - the repeal of the data center electricity sales-tax exemption. The record shows that sequence. It does not establish:[^2] - Amazon's reasons for suspending the project; - the date of either state action; - which agency, legislature or party took them. ## How Amazon acquired the Becker acreage through an intermediary marketed as Elk River Technologies.[^2] The company earns revenue in several ways: - It takes a percentage of the price of each item sold.[^5] - It charges companies to list their goods as featured products.[^5] - Its search results are partly shaped by promotional fees.[^6] - Third-party sellers produced around 40 percent of its sales in 2008.[^6] ## How much The Becker figures are: - Amazon paid $73.5 million for the 348 Becker acres.[^2] - Microsoft paid $17.7 million for its 300 acres and, according to the second entry, has never disclosed an investment figure.[^3] The company-wide figures are: - For fiscal year 2021, Amazon reported earnings of $33.36 billion on revenue of US$469.82 billion, a year-over-year increase of 21.7 percent.[^5] - The first 14 buildings it occupied in South Lake Union cost $1.16 billion in 2016.[^8] ## How many The Becker counts are: - The Becker project involved 348 acres and permits for 250 backup diesel generators.[^2] - Of the three companies that bought or optioned land beside the plant, one project was built. The entry describes Becker's replacement tax base as, at present, "three parcels of grass."[^3] The company-wide counts are: - In 2021, Amazon Prime had 200 million subscribers worldwide.[^1] - The Seattle buildings house more than 45,000 corporate employees.[^8] ## In the at-issue record **AI-Sherburne-066** (rank 66; section *III. The Tax Base Being Retired (61–85)*; year 2025). This entry carries:[^2] - the $73.5 million purchase of 348 acres through Elk River Technologies; - the planned campus; - the May 2025 suspension, following the permit decision and the tax-exemption repeal; - Amazon's continued ownership of the land. The pack anchors the row to a May 2026 presidential action. It does not quote that document or show how it bears on the Becker land.[^2] **AI-Sherburne-067** (rank 67; same section; year 2024). This entry records that Google, Microsoft and Amazon bought or optioned land next to the Sherburne County coal plant and that one project was built. It records that Microsoft paid $17.7 million for 300 acres in February 2024 without disclosing an investment figure. The pack anchors this row to a March 2025 presidential action, again without quoting it.[^3] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Amazon (company)*, lead section (revision 1380679244, retrieved 2026-10-27), CC BY-SA 4.0 — business lines, subsidiaries, founding, 2026 retail and revenue rank, Prime subscribers. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_(company)> [^2]: Executive Office of the President, *Restoring Integrity to America's Financial System* (2026-05) — the pack's anchor for at-issue row AI-Sherburne-066. The Becker purchase, price, suspension, permit and tax facts are stated in that row; its listed sources (house.mn.gov, startribune.com) are not in the pack's URL list. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/05/restoring-integrity-to-americas-financial-system/ [^3]: Executive Office of the President, *Protecting America's Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse* (2025-03) — the pack's anchor for at-issue row AI-Sherburne-067. The three-company land and Microsoft facts are stated in that row; its listed sources (datacenterdynamics.com, startribune.com) are not in the pack's URL list. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/protecting-americas-bank-account-against-fraud-waste-and-abuse/ [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *Amazon (company)*, *History* section (revision 1380679244, retrieved 2026-10-27) — founding as Cadabra, renaming, launch, IPO, 1998 expansion, Toys "R" Us dispute. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_(company)> [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *Amazon (company)*, *Corporate affairs* section (revision 1380679244, retrieved 2026-10-27) — August 2025 board, revenue model, fiscal 2021 earnings and revenue. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_(company)> [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *Amazon (company)*, *Products and services* section (revision 1380679244, retrieved 2026-10-27) — product categories, country storefronts, promotional fees in search, third-party seller share in 2008. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_(company)> [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *Amazon (company)*, *Criticism and controversies* section (revision 1380679244, retrieved 2026-10-27) — list of criticisms raised against the company. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_(company)> [^8]: Wikipedia contributors, *Amazon (company)*, *Operations* section (revision 1380679244, retrieved 2026-10-27) — Seattle headquarters, 2016 purchase, other campuses, corporate headcount. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_(company)>