Microsoft, one of the world’s largest companies by market capitalization, is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. The company’s main campus is located in the Seattle metropolitan area, but Redmond—not Seattle—is the city named as its corporate headquarters.
Microsoft moved its headquarters from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the Seattle-area community of Bellevue in 1979. It later moved to nearby Redmond in 1986, shortly before the company went public. The Redmond campus became closely associated with Microsoft’s growth into a global software and technology company.
The company was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975. Its best-known products include Windows, Microsoft 365, Azure, Xbox, and LinkedIn, although its business portfolio has changed substantially over time.
A common mix-up is treating Redmond and Seattle as interchangeable because both are part of the same metropolitan region. Microsoft’s headquarters address and corporate identity are specifically associated with Redmond.