Microsoft became the second U.S. company to surpass a $2 trillion market capitalization. Its shares crossed that level in June 2021, following Apple’s earlier achievement.
Microsoft’s rising valuation was supported by its cloud-computing business, especially Azure, along with software subscriptions, enterprise products, gaming, and professional networking. The company increasingly emphasized recurring cloud and subscription revenue instead of relying mainly on packaged software sales.
A market capitalization milestone does not mean Microsoft held $2 trillion in cash or assets. It represents the market’s combined valuation of all outstanding shares at a particular share price. Microsoft was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen and became one of the most influential software companies through Windows and Office before expanding into cloud services.