Microsoft is the company identified by the ticker symbol MSFT and has ranked among the world’s largest companies by market capitalization.
Microsoft trades on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the symbol MSFT. Its market value has been driven by a broad portfolio that includes Windows, Microsoft 365, Azure cloud computing, Xbox, LinkedIn, and enterprise software.
The company was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975 and became especially influential through operating-system and productivity software. In later decades, cloud infrastructure and subscription services became major parts of its business model.
Ticker symbols are exchange identifiers, not abbreviations of every company name. MSFT is a shortened trading symbol for Microsoft, while market capitalization remains the value of its publicly traded equity and changes with the share price.