Microsoft, founded in 1975, became a regular member of the world’s top market-cap companies through Windows and Azure.
Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on April 4, 1975. The company first became widely known for software, especially the MS-DOS operating system and Microsoft Windows, before building major businesses in productivity software, gaming, cloud computing, and enterprise services.
Azure is Microsoft’s cloud-computing platform. Its growth broadened Microsoft beyond personal-computer software and gave the company a major role in corporate infrastructure. Microsoft 365, LinkedIn, Xbox, and GitHub also contribute to its broad business portfolio.
Microsoft’s market capitalization is not the same thing as its annual sales or the value of its intellectual property alone. It is the total market value of its outstanding shares. The company has repeatedly exchanged the number-one market-cap position with other technology leaders as stock prices change.