Microsoft, founded in 1975, became one of the world’s highest-valued companies through Windows, Azure, and Office.
Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on April 4, 1975. The company first became widely known for software such as MS-DOS and Windows, then built a major business around Office productivity applications.
Its later market-value growth was strongly tied to Azure, Microsoft’s cloud-computing platform, along with enterprise software, gaming, search, and professional networking. These businesses diversified Microsoft beyond personal-computer operating systems.
Microsoft is often confused with the company that manufactured many Windows PCs. Microsoft generally licensed Windows to hardware makers, while companies such as Dell and Lenovo built many of the computers running it.