Microsoft was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen.
The two founders created the company in Albuquerque, New Mexico, after developing a version of the BASIC programming language for the Altair 8800 microcomputer. Microsoft later became best known for MS-DOS, Windows, Office and Azure.
Microsoft’s market capitalization reflects the total value investors assign to its outstanding shares, not the company’s annual revenue or cash balance. Its valuation grew substantially as cloud computing and enterprise software became central parts of its business.
Microsoft is sometimes confused with Windows, but Windows is one of Microsoft’s products. The company’s other major businesses include Xbox, LinkedIn, GitHub and Azure.