Jeff Bezos-led online retail giant Amazon has topped MIT’s annual list of the world’s smartest companies of 2016 for combining innovative technology with an effective business model. Chinese web services company Baidu and the world’s largest DNA-sequencing company Illumina have been ranked second and third respectively. The list also includes Tesla Motors, Alphabet, Facebook, SpaceX and Snapchat.

Did You Know?

• Amazon.com, Inc., often referred to as simply Amazon, is an American electronic commerce and cloud computing company with headquarters in Seattle, Washington.
• It is the largest Internet-based retailer in the United States and world by total sales and market capitalization.
• Amazon.com started as an online bookstore, later diversifying to sell DVDs, Blu-rays,CDs, video downloads/streaming, MP3 downloads/streaming, audiobook downloads/streaming, software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys and jewelry.
• The company also produces consumer electronics—notably, Amazon Kindle e-readers,Fire tablets, and Fire TV —and is the world’s largest provider of cloud infrastructure services (IaaS).
• Amazon also sells certain low-end products like USB cables under its in-house brand AmazonBasics.
• Amazon has separate retail websites for United States, United Kingdom and Ireland, France, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Australia, Brazil, Japan, China, India and Mexico.