Monday☕️

Trending:

As of Monday, June 29, 2026, the US and Iran have agreed to stand down after weekend clashes over the Strait of Hormuz, following US strikes on Iranian military targets on June 26–27 in response to Iranian drone attacks on commercial vessels using non-approved routes.

Tensions spiked after the June 17 US-Iran memorandum of understanding, with Iran asserting control over the strait (through which ~20% of global oil passes) and its foreign minister Abbas Araghchi warning on June 28 that any interference would escalate tensions and delay reopening; both sides traded further attacks before de-escalating the fragile ceasefire.

Science & Technology:

Apple is currently lobbying the Trump administration for approval to buy memory chips from China’s CXMT, a DRAM maker on the Pentagon’s blacklist over alleged military ties, as the company works to manage rising chip costs and shortages.

Although purchases from CXMT are not currently banned, Apple is seeking assurances to prevent future US restrictions such as addition to the Entity List amid ongoing trade tensions.

SpaceX:

On June 28, 2026, SpaceX launched 24 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.

Another Falcon 9 also lifted off the same day from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying the SiriusXM SXM-11 communications satellite to geosynchronous transfer orbit.

Statistic:

Largest public companies by market capitalization:

🇺🇸 NVIDIA: $4.663T
🇺🇸 Apple: $4.167T
🇺🇸 Alphabet (Google): $4.084T
🇺🇸 Microsoft: $2.770T
🇺🇸 Amazon: $2.503T
🇹🇼 TSMC: $2.242T
🇺🇸 SpaceX: $2.018T
🇺🇸 Broadcom: $1.736T
🇸🇦 Saudi Aramco: $1.713T
🇺🇸 Tesla: $1.426T
🇺🇸 Meta Platforms (Facebook): $1.396T
🇰🇷 Samsung: $1.374T
🇺🇸 Micron Technology: $1.278T
🇰🇷 SK Hynix: $1.187T
🇺🇸 Eli Lilly: $1.077T
🇺🇸 Berkshire Hathaway: $1.075T
🇺🇸 Walmart: $920.67B
🇺🇸 JPMorgan Chase: $881.69B
🇺🇸 AMD: $850.48B
🇳🇱 ASML: $691.67B
🇺🇸 Intel: $644.93B
🇺🇸 Visa: $639.42B
🇺🇸 Johnson & Johnson: $613.02B
🇺🇸 Exxon Mobil: $565.95B
🇺🇸 Applied Materials: $497.68B
🇨🇳 Tencent: $479.32B

History:

Amazon began as an online bookstore but evolved into one of the most influential companies in modern history, fundamentally changing retail, cloud computing, logistics, artificial intelligence, and digital infrastructure. The company was founded by Jeff Bezos on July 5, 1994, in Bellevue, Washington, after he left the hedge fund D. E. Shaw. Bezos chose the name Amazon because of the Amazon River, symbolizing scale and ambition to become “Earth’s biggest bookstore.” The website launched on July 16, 1995, selling books online before expanding into CDs, DVDs, electronics, toys, clothing, and virtually every consumer product. Amazon went public on May 15, 1997, raising $54 million despite operating at a loss. During the dot-com crash (2000–2002), when hundreds of internet companies failed, Amazon survived by aggressively investing in warehouses, logistics, technology, and customer experience rather than short-term profits. The launch of Amazon Prime in 2005 transformed e-commerce by introducing fast shipping through a subscription model, while Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) in 2006 allowed third-party businesses to store inventory inside Amazon’s warehouses and leverage its global logistics network. These innovations helped Amazon become the dominant online retailer in North America and one of the largest marketplaces in the world.
Amazon’s biggest strategic shift came with the launch of Amazon Web Services (AWS) in 2006, which many analysts consider one of the most important business decisions in technology history. Originally created to solve Amazon’s own infrastructure problems, AWS became the world’s largest cloud computing platform, renting computing power, storage, databases, networking, AI services, and software infrastructure to businesses and governments. Today, millions of organizations—including Netflix, Airbnb, NASA, Pfizer, Adobe, Capital One, startups, universities, and government agencies—rely on AWS. Amazon continued expanding into hardware with the Kindle (2007), voice AI through Alexa and Echo (2014), entertainment through Prime Video, grocery retail by acquiring Whole Foods Market (2017) for $13.7 billion, autonomous logistics, healthcare, robotics, and artificial intelligence. During the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2022), Amazon became one of the world’s most critical supply chain companies as online shopping surged globally. The company also built one of the largest logistics networks ever created, operating hundreds of fulfillment centers, sortation facilities, cargo aircraft, delivery stations, trucks, and one of the world’s largest last-mile delivery fleets. Beyond retail, Amazon entered satellite communications through Project Kuiper (2019), aiming to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink by deploying a global broadband satellite constellation.
By 2026, Amazon has become one of the largest companies on Earth, generating over $700 billion in annual revenue, employing approximately 1.6 million people worldwide, and serving hundreds of millions of customers across more than 100 countries. Its business spans e-commerce, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, logistics, robotics, advertising, entertainment, healthcare, consumer electronics, smart homes, satellite communications, and enterprise software. AWS remains the global leader in cloud infrastructure, forming part of the backbone of the modern internet alongside Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. Amazon operates one of the most advanced logistics systems ever built, using AI, robotics, automation, predictive analytics, aircraft, ships, trucks, drones, and fulfillment centers to move millions of packages every day. Under CEO Andy Jassy, who succeeded Jeff Bezos in 2021, the company has accelerated investments in generative AI, custom AI chips, robotics, and global cloud infrastructure. From a garage startup selling books in 1995 to a company powering a significant portion of the world’s internet infrastructure, commerce, and cloud computing, Amazon has become one of the defining corporations of the 21st century and one of the most influential technology companies ever created.