Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque in 1975.
The company began after Gates and Allen developed a version of the BASIC programming language for the Altair 8800, an early personal computer. Their business was originally called Micro-Soft, a name combining “microcomputer” and “software.” Microsoft later became a major software supplier through MS-DOS and Windows.
Its broad software business, cloud division, gaming operations, and enterprise products have helped make Microsoft one of the companies most often found near the top of global market-cap rankings. Those rankings can change daily as share prices move.
Microsoft moved its headquarters to the Seattle-area city of Bellevue in 1979 and later to nearby Redmond. Another common mix-up is the company’s founding year: Microsoft began in 1975, while it went public in 1986.