In the anti-trust way. For years they bankroled major losses. They eventually did away with the super deep discounts, but only after capturing market share and servely damaging their competitors. This was back when Amazon primarily sold books. Their impact has been very similar to Walmart on smaller retailers and bookstores throughout smaller cities and towns.

Amazon has become innovative and branched out, but so did Standard Oil.

Amazon lost money, and a lot of it, from 1994 to 2001 when it turned it’s first $5 million dollar positive quarter. From inception in 1994 to end of fiscal year 2001, they last $2.8 billion and lost over $2.2 Billion before ever turning a profit.