Microsoft briefly became the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization in 2020 as investors rewarded its cloud-computing growth.
Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, enterprise software subscriptions, and work-from-home demand helped drive optimism about the company during 2020. Its valuation overtook Apple’s at points during that year, although the two companies repeatedly exchanged the top position.
Microsoft’s transformation from a personal-computer software company into a broad cloud and services business was central to the change. Products such as Microsoft 365, Azure, Windows, Xbox, and LinkedIn gave the company several major revenue streams.
A market-cap ranking is based on share price multiplied by shares outstanding, so it can change even when companies continue operating normally. Short-lived leadership changes are common among the largest public companies.