Secret of success: What makes Amazon different from other large firms?

Unlike many big American companies, Amazon is not squandering its profits on stock buybacks

What is it that makes Amazon different from other large companies?

Certainly, the sheer range of the products it sells and its market power are unmatched in corporate America. The recent frenzy over its HQ2 pick is another expression of its outsize influence on the economy.

But there is another difference that is much less appreciated yet has been more significant in shaping its path: Amazon’s resource-allocation strategy — in particular, how it chooses to use the profits that it earns. It is one of very few large American corporations that is choosing to retain its profits and reinvest them rather than