Amazon
IPO date: May 15, 1997
Annual net loss prior to IPO: $6 million loss
Net income in 2018: $10.1 billion
Value of $1 invested in IPO: $1,030.61
Market capitalization: $876.2 billion
Description: Originally created as an online bookseller, the company has morphed into an online-retail juggernaut that is sometimes referred to as "The Everything Store".
Amazon recorded net sales of $233 billion for 2018, and billionaire CEO Jeff Bezos remained upbeat despite distractions around his personal life potentially impacting the company.
Webvan
IPO date: November 5, 1999
Annual net loss prior to IPO: $12 million loss
Net income in 2018: N/A
Value of $1 invested in IPO: $0
Market capitalization: N/A
Description: Webvan promised same-day delivery of groceries from state-of-the-art fulfillment centers manned by advanced robots.
But this was in 1999, and the firm could not develop the technology in a cost-effective manner, burning through $800 million of capital before declaring bankruptcy in 2001.
Interestingly, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos aggressively hired Webvan veterans and purchased a related technology firm as he planned Amazon's own entry into the business.
Pets.com
IPO date: February 10, 2000
Annual net loss prior to IPO: $63 million loss
Net income in 2018: N/A
Value of $1 invested in IPO: $0
Market capitalization: N/A
Description: Pets.com began operations in 1998 with the goal of selling pet supplies online. Similar to Webvan, the company was hampered by poor logistics and difficulty reaching profitability, filing for bankruptcy in November 2000.
The company achieved some notoriety for its marketing campaign, which featured a sock puppet mascot. The mascot proved popular, appearing on "Good Morning America" and in a Super Bowl ad.
Amazon was also an early investor in the company, taking a majority stake before selling down in the IPO.
Tesla
IPO date: June 29, 2010
Annual net loss prior to IPO: $83 million loss
Net income in 2018: $976 million loss
Value of $1 invested in IPO: $16.33
Market capitalization: $47.9 billion
Description: Tesla was founded in 2003 by engineers seeking to prove that electric vehicles could offer a better alternative to gasoline-powered vehicles. More broadly, the company expanded its mission to "accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy."
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is often in the news as much for his antics in challenging the Securities and Exchange Commission as for the advent of new Tesla products such as the Model Y crossover.
IPO date: November 7, 2013
Annual net loss prior to IPO: $79 million loss
Net income in 2018: $1.2 billion
Value of $1 invested in IPO: $1.27
Market capitalization: $25.3 billion
Description: One of the top social-media sites, where users can post "tweets," or short messages, to groups of recipients or the public at large.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has come under criticism for not tackling controversial tweets from figures associated with the white-nationalism movement. Despite the controversy, Twitter's financial results have strongly improved, moving from losses in 2017 to profits of more than $1 billion in 2018.
Snap
IPO date: March 2, 2017
Annual net loss prior to IPO: $515 million loss
Net income in 2018: $1.3 billion loss
Value of $1 invested in IPO: $0.64
Market capitalization: $14.5 billion
Description: Launched in 2011 as a disappearing photo-sharing app, the Snapchat app quickly gained popularity among millennials. Within a year of launch, 20 million photos were shared each day on the app. The company now has over 186 million daily active users.
In 2013, Snap famously rejected a $3 billion buyout offer from Facebook. Since then, Facebook has since been accused of copying Snap's most innovative features, including the use of filters and disappearing posts.