Microsoft owns Azure and became the second company to exceed a US$3 trillion market capitalization.
Microsoft passed the $3 trillion mark during trading on January 24, 2024, after Apple had reached that level first. The milestone reflected investor confidence in Microsoft’s software, cloud-computing, enterprise, and artificial-intelligence businesses.
Azure is Microsoft’s cloud-computing platform and competes with Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. Microsoft also earns revenue from Windows, Microsoft 365, gaming, LinkedIn, and business software.
The company was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975. Its transition from a personal-computer software company toward recurring cloud subscriptions helped reshape its earnings profile. A market-cap ranking can change quickly, so the order between giant companies is not permanently fixed.