Amazon was notorious for having a profit of about 0 for years and years due to investment in capital (to produce future earnings). Your spending today includes

Amazon was notorious for having a profit of about 0 for years and years due to investment in capital (to produce future earnings). Your spending today includes both the operational costs of creating what you have today, plus the investment you're making to generate additional revenue in the future. Obviously this excludes other important expenses like depreciation, but you get the idea.