Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology company with headquarters in Redmond, Washington. It develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services.

CEO: Satya Nadella (4 Feb 2014–) Trending

Customer service: 1800 102 1100

Founded: 4 April 1975, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States

Headquarters: Redmond, Washington, United States

Founders: Bill GatesPaul Allen

Subsidiaries: Softomotive Ltd.GitHubSkype Communications S.a r.l.YammerFlipgrid, Inc.

CEO

CEO: Satya Nadella

Founders

Bill Gates ans Paul Allen

Company info.

TypePublic
Traded asNASDAQ
MSFTNASDAQ-100 componentDJIA 
componentS&P 100 
componentS&P 500 component
ISINUS5949181045
IndustrySoftware development
Computer hardware
Consumer electronics
Social networking service
Cloud computing
Video gamesInternet
Corporate venture capital
PredecessorTraf-O-Data
FoundedApril 4, 1975; 45 years ago in 
Albuquerque,
New Mexico, U.S.
FoundersBill GatesPaul Allen
HeadquartersOne Microsoft Way
Redmond,
Washington, U.S.
Area servedWorldwide
Key peopleJohn W. Thompson
(chairman)Satya Nadella
(CEO)Brad Smith
(president)Bill Gates
(technical advisor)
ProductsWindows Office Servers 
Skype Visual Studio
 Dynamics Xbox Surface
 Mobile List of software
ServicesAzure Bing LinkedIn 
Yammer MSDN Office 365 OneDrive 
Outlook.com 
GitHub TechNet Pay 
Microsoft Store 
Windows Update Xbox Game Pass Xbox Live
RevenueIncrease US$125.8 billion[1] 
(2019)
Operating incomeIncrease US$43.0 billion[1] 
(2019)
Net incomeIncrease US$39.2 billion[1]
 (2019)
Total assetsIncrease US$286.55 billion[1] 
(2019)
Total equityIncrease US$102.33 billion[1] 
(2019)
Number of employeesIncrease 151,163[2] (2019)
Websitewww.microsoft.com

History of Microsoft

On April 4, 1975, at a time when most Americans used typewriters, childhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen found Microsoft, a company that makes computer software. Originally based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Microsoft relocated to Washington State in 1979 and eventually grew into a major multinational technology corporation. In 1987, the year after Microsoft went public, 31-year-old Gates became the world’s youngest billionaire.

Gates and Allen started Microsoft—originally called Micro-Soft, for microprocessors and software—in order to produce software for the Altair 8800, an early personal computer. Allen quit his job as a programmer in Boston and Gates left Harvard University, where he was a student, to focus on their new company, which was based in Albuquerque because the city was home to electronics firm MITS, maker of the Altair 8800. By the end of 1978, Microsoft’s sales topped more than $1 million and in 1979 the business moved its headquarters to Bellevue, Washington, a suburb of Seattle, where Gates and Allen grew up. The company went on to license its MS-DOS operating system to IBM for its first personal computer, which debuted in 1981. Afterward, other computer companies started licensing MS-DOS, which had no graphical interface and required users to type in commands in order to open a program. In 1983, Allen departed Microsoft after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma; he was successfully treated for the disease and went on to pursue a variety of other business ventures.

In 1985, Microsoft released a new operating system, Windows, with a graphical user interface that included drop-down menus, scroll bars and other features. The following year, the company moved its headquarters to Redmond, Washington, and went public at $21 a share, raising $61 million. By the late 1980s, Microsoft had become the world’s biggest personal-computer software company, based on sales. In 1995, amidst skyrocketing purchases of personal computers for home and office use, Windows 95 made its debut. It included such innovations as the Start menu (TV commercials for Windows 95 featured the Rolling Stones singing “Start Me Up”) and 7 million copies of the new product were sold in the first five weeks. During the second half of the 1990s, Internet usage took off, and Microsoft introduced its web browser, Internet Explorer, in 1995

In 1998, the U.S. Department of Justice and 20 state attorneys general charged Microsoft with violating antitrust laws by using its dominance to drive competitors out of business; in 2001, the company reached a settlement with the government that imposed restrictions on its corporate practices. Also in 2001, Microsoft joined the video-game market with the launch of its Xbox console. 

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