Microsoft, founded in 1975, became the first company to close above a US$3 trillion market capitalization.
The milestone occurred in January 2024, when Microsoft’s share price and outstanding-share count combined to place its market value above three trillion dollars at the end of a trading session. The company had benefited from strong demand for cloud computing through Azure and heightened interest in its artificial-intelligence strategy.
Microsoft began as a software company best known for MS-DOS and Windows. It later expanded into enterprise software, cloud infrastructure, gaming, search, professional networking, and hardware.
Nvidia briefly surpassed Microsoft in market value during 2024, which can make summaries of the milestone confusing. The precise wording matters: Microsoft was the first to close above the threshold, not necessarily the company that held the top position continuously afterward.