Microsoft is the company that owns the Windows operating system and Azure cloud platform, making it one of the world’s largest by market capitalization.
Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975. The company first became widely known for software for personal computers, including the MS-DOS operating system and later Windows. Windows 95, released in 1995, became a major consumer software milestone.
Microsoft’s business now spans productivity software, cloud computing, gaming, search, advertising, and professional networking. Azure is its cloud-computing platform, while Microsoft 365 combines applications and subscription services such as Word, Excel, and Teams.
Microsoft became a public company in 1986. Its market capitalization grew substantially as recurring software subscriptions and cloud services became more important. Rankings should not be confused with annual sales rankings: market capitalization reflects investors’ valuation of future prospects, not just the latest reported revenue.