Microsoft operates the Azure cloud platform and ranks among the world’s largest companies by market capitalization.
Azure is Microsoft’s cloud-computing business, offering infrastructure, databases, analytics, artificial intelligence, and other services over the internet. Its growth has made cloud computing a major part of Microsoft’s business alongside Windows, Office, gaming, and enterprise software.
Microsoft’s market value rose substantially as investors viewed recurring software subscriptions and cloud services as durable sources of revenue. Products such as Microsoft 365 and the Azure platform helped shift the company beyond its historic dependence on Windows and packaged software.
Microsoft was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Although Azure competes with Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud, Azure is not a separate publicly traded company; it belongs to Microsoft, whose shares are listed on Nasdaq.