Amazon Pursues Acquisition of Globalstar, Embracing Satellite Service

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) on April 14 signed a merger agreement to acquire satellite communications provider Globalstar, offering Globalstar shareholders a choice of $90 per share in cash (approximately KRW 120,000) or Amazon common stock in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at about $11.57 billion (roughly KRW 16 trillion). At the same time, under a parallel agreement with Apple, Amazon’s low-Earth orbit satellite network, Amazon Leo, will continue to support direct-to-device satellite services for iPhone and Apple Watch—such as Emergency SOS and messaging—and the two companies will collaborate on future feature expansions. The deal is expected to close in 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and the attainment of key satellite-related milestones.

In the same month, Douglas Herrington, CEO of Amazon’s Store division, and CEO Andy Jassy sold tens of thousands of Amazon shares under pre-established Rule 10b5-1 trading plans, raising tens of millions of dollars (several billion Korean won) in cash. Both executives, however, still retain ownership of millions of Amazon shares, as disclosed in their filings.

Amazon is set to report first-quarter 2026 results on April 29. In its previously issued guidance, the company forecasted that Amazon Leo satellite business expenses would increase by approximately $1 billion year over year in 2026, reflecting a significant ramp-up in its satellite network investments.

Built on its e-commerce platform and AWS cloud services, Amazon is now expanding into the low-Earth orbit satellite communications and direct-to-device services market with Amazon Leo, positioning itself to compete with the likes of SpaceX’s Starlink.