By: Matt Krantz, USA TODAY
The Internet was supposed to democratize and open up information, commerce and communication. But so far, the spoils are going to a relative few.
Now that social media giant Facebook (FB) has reported its quarterly profit, investors can see how lucrative Internet business has become for the industry’s winners. Just five companies in the Internet Software and Services and Internet and Catalog Retail industries within the Russell 3000 index, including Amazon (AMZN), Google holding company Alphabet (GOOGL) and Facebook, collected 70% of the industry’s more than $300 billion in revenue the past 12 months, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data from S&P Capital IQ. Even that statistic masks just how concentrated the Internet business is. Amazon and Alphabet together hauled in 57% of the total revenue generated by the Internet companies over the past 12 months.
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