Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation
	Logo used since 2012
	Aerial view of the Microsoft campus in Redmond
Company type	Public
Traded as	Nasdaq: MSFT; Nasdaq-100 component; DJIA component; S&P 100 component; S&P 500 component;
ISIN	US5949181045
Industry	Information technology
Predecessor	Traf-O-Data
Founded	April 4, 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.
Founders	Bill Gates; Paul Allen;
Headquarters	One Microsoft Way, Redmond, Washington, U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Satya Nadella (chairman & CEO); Brad Smith (vice chairman & president); Bill Gates (technical adviser);
Products	Software development; Computer hardware; Consumer electronics; Social networking service; Cloud computing; Video games; Internet; Corporate venture capital;
Brands	Windows; Microsoft 365; Teams; Visual Studio; Xbox; Dynamics; Surface;
Services	Edge; Azure; Bing; LinkedIn; Viva Engage; Microsoft 365; OneDrive; Dynamics 365; Outlook; GitHub; Microsoft Store; Windows Update; Game Pass; Xbox network;
Revenue	US$245.1 billion (2024)
Operating income	US$109.4 billion (2024)
Net income	US$88.1 billion (2024)
Total assets	US$512.1 billion (2024)
Total equity	US$268.5 billion (2024)
Number of employees	228,000 (2024)
Divisions	Microsoft Engineering Groups; Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit; Microsoft Press; Microsoft Gaming; Microsoft AI;
Subsidiaries	Microsoft Japan; Microsoft India; Microsoft Egypt; GitHub; LinkedIn; Nuance Communications; RiskIQ; Skype Technologies; Xamarin; Xandr;
ASN	8075;
Website	microsoft.com
	Footnotes / references; Financials as of June 30, 2024

Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington.^[2] Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the rise of personal computers through software like Windows, and the company has since expanded to Internet services, cloud computing, video gaming and other fields. Microsoft is the largest software maker, one of the most valuable public U.S. companies,^[a] and one of the most valuable brands globally.

Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800. It rose to dominate the personal computer operating system market with MS-DOS in the mid-1980s, followed by Windows. During the 41 years from 1980 to 2021 Microsoft released 9 versions of MS-DOS with a median frequency of 2 years, and 13 versions of Windows with a median frequency of 3 years. The company's 1986 initial public offering (IPO) and subsequent rise in its share price created three billionaires and an estimated 12,000 millionaires among Microsoft employees. Since the 1990s, it has increasingly diversified from the operating system market. Steve Ballmer replaced Gates as CEO in 2000. He oversaw the then-largest of Microsoft's corporate acquisitions in Skype Technologies in 2011,^[3] and an increased focus on hardware^[4]^[5] that led to its first in-house PC line, the Surface, in 2012, and the formation of Microsoft Mobile through Nokia. Since Satya Nadella took over as CEO in 2014, the company has changed focus towards cloud computing,^[6]^[7] as well as its large acquisition of LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in 2016.^[8] Under Nadella's direction, the company has also expanded its video gaming business to support the Xbox brand, establishing the Microsoft Gaming division in 2022 and acquiring Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in 2023.^[9]

Microsoft has been market-dominant in the IBM PC–compatible operating system market and the office software suite market since the 1990s. Its best-known software products are the Windows line of operating systems and the Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 suite of productivity applications, which most notably include the Word word processor and Excel spreadsheet editor. Its flagship hardware products are the Surface lineup of personal computers and Xbox video game consoles, the latter of which includes the Xbox network; the company also provides a range of consumer Internet services such as Bing web search, the MSN web portal, the Outlook.com (Hotmail) email service and the Microsoft Store. In the enterprise and development fields, Microsoft most notably provides the Azure cloud computing platform, Microsoft SQL Server database software, and Visual Studio.^{[citation needed]}

Microsoft is considered one of the Big Five American information technology companies, alongside Alphabet,^[b] Amazon, Apple, and Meta.^[c] In April 2019, Microsoft reached a trillion-dollar market cap, becoming the third public U.S. company to be valued at over $1 trillion. It has been criticized for its monopolistic practices, and the company's software has been criticized for problems with ease of use, robustness, and security.

^ "Microsoft Corporation Form 10-K". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. July 30, 2024. pp. 8, 56, 58.
^ "Microsoft Investor Relations - FAQs". Microsoft. Archived from the original on April 21, 2025.
^ "Microsoft confirms takeover of Skype". BBC. May 10, 2011. Archived from the original on June 20, 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
^ Blodget, Henry (August 23, 2013). "And Microsoft Is Giving Up On The Software Business!". Business Insider Australia. Archived from the original on August 2, 2017. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
^ "Notify The Next Of Kin". InformationWeek. June 30, 2010. Archived from the original on April 24, 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
^ "Microsoft sees shares hit record high". BBC. October 21, 2016. Archived from the original on October 16, 2017. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
^ "Microsoft's cloud focus could mean yet more layoffs". Engadget. July 3, 2017. Archived from the original on August 2, 2017. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
^ "U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – Linkedin". US SEC. December 8, 2016. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved April 29, 2018. As a result of the Merger, a change in control of [Linkedin] occurred and [Linkedin] became a wholly-owned subsidiary of [Microsoft]. The transaction resulted in the payment of approximately $26.4 billion in cash merger consideration.
^ Warren, Tom (October 13, 2023). "Microsoft completes Activision Blizzard acquisition, Call of Duty now part of Xbox". The Verge. Retrieved November 1, 2023.

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[1] "Microsoft Corporation Form 10-K". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. July 30, 2024. pp. 8, 56, 58.

[2] "Microsoft Investor Relations - FAQs". Microsoft. Archived from the original on April 21, 2025.

[4] "Microsoft confirms takeover of Skype". BBC. May 10, 2011. Archived from the original on June 20, 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2018.

[5] Blodget, Henry (August 23, 2013). "And Microsoft Is Giving Up On The Software Business!". Business Insider Australia. Archived from the original on August 2, 2017. Retrieved August 2, 2017.

[6] "Notify The Next Of Kin". InformationWeek. June 30, 2010. Archived from the original on April 24, 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2014.

[7] "Microsoft sees shares hit record high". BBC. October 21, 2016. Archived from the original on October 16, 2017. Retrieved October 7, 2017.

[8] "Microsoft's cloud focus could mean yet more layoffs". Engadget. July 3, 2017. Archived from the original on August 2, 2017. Retrieved October 7, 2017.

[9] "U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – Linkedin". US SEC. December 8, 2016. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved April 29, 2018. As a result of the Merger, a change in control of [Linkedin] occurred and [Linkedin] became a wholly-owned subsidiary of [Microsoft]. The transaction resulted in the payment of approximately $26.4 billion in cash merger consideration.

[10] Warren, Tom (October 13, 2023). "Microsoft completes Activision Blizzard acquisition, Call of Duty now part of Xbox". The Verge. Retrieved November 1, 2023.

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