In 1997, the year Amazon (AMZN) became a publicly traded company, CEO Jeff Bezos promised investors they would be in for a journey. Amazon would not chase short-term profits, he warned in a letter to shareholders. It would focus "relentlessly" on customers. It would act with urgency but prioritize long-term investments. And it would run a lean culture that minimized costs and cut waste.

A quarter-century later, Bezos's approach has made Amazon a global behemoth that employs more than a million people and touches almost every aspect of modern life, a fact that's become even more apparent during the pandemic. READ MORE