Microsoft was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The pair established the company after developing a version of the BASIC programming language for the Altair 8800 personal computer. They originally used the name “Micro-Soft,” combining “microcomputer” and “software.”
Microsoft later became one of the world’s most valuable public companies through Windows, Office, cloud computing, and enterprise software. Its Azure cloud platform became a major rival to Amazon Web Services and helped diversify the company beyond personal-computer software.
Microsoft moved its headquarters to the Seattle-area city of Redmond, Washington. It went public in 1986, and its shares trade on Nasdaq under the symbol MSFT. The company’s name is sometimes confused with the Windows product line, but Windows is one of Microsoft’s major products rather than the company itself.