The Dot-Com Bubble and Its Impact on the U.S. Capital Market: An Analysis of Amazon and eBay

This thesis focuses on the financial development and strategic actions of Amazon and eBay during the dot-com bubble (1998-2002), which enabled them to survive the turbulent period of the emergence of a new technology – the internet. Through case studies of these technology companies, the thesis aims to test the main hypothesis in the text that technology companies such as Amazon and eBay were able to survive the turbulent times of the internet fever through effective financial management and a focus on long-term growth. The results of the analysis do not allow this hypothesis to be clearly confirmed. It shows that success was the result of a combination of several factors, notably a functional business model, effective cash flow management, the ability to reach a wide range of customers, high margin generation and effective marketing investments. The findings on the first research question show that there were significant differences between successful and unsuccessful companies, particularly in the areas of financial management and growth strategy. The second research question focuses on the identification of deficiencies in capital markets regulation during the dot-com bubble, finding that the weakening and subsequent repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act led to conflicts of interest, increased the risk of moral hazard, and contributed to legislative changes. The added value of the thesis is to connect the theoretical knowledge of financial bubbles with the practical analysis of companies and to evaluate ratios such as P/E and perform cash flow analysis. n original contribution is also the comparison of the dot-com bubble with the current situation in the artificial intelligence market, in which similarities are found in the high investor expectations, the number of IPOs and the high valuation of companies.