"Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington.

"Founded in 1975, the company became highly influential in the rise of personal computers through software like Windows, and the company has since expanded to Internet services, cloud computing, video gaming and other fields.

"Microsoft is the largest software maker, one of the most valuable public U.S. companies, and one of the most valuable brands globally."  (Wikipedia)

"Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800. It rose to dominate the personal computer operating system market with MS-DOS in the mid-1980s, followed by Windows.

"The company's 1986 initial public offering (IPO) and subsequent rise in its share price created three billionaires and an estimated 12,000 millionaires among Microsoft employees. Since the 1990s, it has increasingly diversified from the operating system market." (Wikipedia)

#1 Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)

• Revenue (TTM): $203.08 billion
• Net Income (TTM): $69.79 billion
• Market Cap: $1.82 trillion
• 1-Year Trailing Total Return: -24.61%
• Exchange: NASDAQ



"Microsoft provides the Windows computer operating systems software, Office applications suite, and the Azure cloud computing service. The largest software company in the world also develops server applications, tablets, and video game consoles," the Investopedia says.

"Microsoft was the largest software and programming company worldwide by net sales from 2017 to 2024. In the most recent year, Microsoft’s sales revenue reached 237 billion U.S. dollars. Oracle and Salesforce ranked in distant second and third places, earning 53 and 35 billion U.S. dollars, respectively," the Statista says.

"Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft has grown into one of the most successful tech firms in the world and has experienced years of continued success.

"Microsoft’s core business is its productivity and business process segment, from which the company generated over 245 billion U.S. dollars in its 2022 financial year. Intelligence cloud, another highly prolific segment, brought in a further 105 billion U.S. dollars in that year."

"As a technology juggernaut, Microsoft produces software and hardware across personal computing, cloud services, productivity applications, gaming, and more. Its Windows operating system runs on over 80% of laptops and desktop computers globally. Complimentary products like Microsoft Office drive business productivity with apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook," thedesignfirm.com says.

"Beyond software, Microsoft manufactures its own PCs, the Surface series of laptops and tablets, as well as Xbox gaming consoles. It also acquired LinkedIn and Skype to bolster its social media and communications capabilities.

"Cloud platform Azure is its fastest growing business, providing infrastructure and web services to enterprises. With 200+ services, Azure competes with Amazon Web Services."

"Inspired by the January cover of Popular Electronics magazine, friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen started Microsoft – sometimes Micro-Soft, for microprocessors and software – to develop software for the Altair 8800, an early personal computer," the Microsoft  official website says.

"In 1980, the pair struck a deal to provide the operating system for IBM’s first personal computer. Microsoft released Windows in 1985, a year before moving its headquarters to Redmond, Washington. By the late 1980s, Microsoft was the world’s largest personal-computer software company."

"Twenty three years after it was founded, the US software giant Microsoft has won the official title of biggest company in the world," the BBC reports.

"Valued at $261bn (£163bn) on the New York stock exchange on Monday, Microsoft has finally beaten its number one rival, General Electric, in market value.

"Owner, Bill Gates, the world's richest man, still owns 20% of the company, worth an estimated $56bn."

"Microsoft, founded on April 4, 1975, is the biggest software company in the world with headquarters located in Redmond, Washington in the US. It has an annual sales rate of $97.58 billion," the World Atlas says.

"This multinational company produces various technology products, including: electronics, computer software, and personal computers. In May of 2011, Microsoft purchased Skype Technologies and in December of 2016, went on to purchase Linkedin.

"Although Microsoft’s growth was originally centered around personal computer operating systems, it has since lost a large share of that market to Android. It has, however, grown in the IBM-PC compatible operating systems and the office software suite markets."

"Microsoft Corp., U.S. computer firm, the leading developer of personal-computer software systems and applications. Microsoft, headquartered in Redmond, Wash., also publishes books and multimedia titles and manufactures hardware," the Britannica says.



"It was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul G. Allen (b. 1954), who adapted BASIC for use on personal computers. They licensed versions of it to various companies, developed other programming languages, and in 1981 released MS-DOS for the IBM PC.

"The subsequent adoption of MS-DOS by most other personal-computer manufacturers generated vast revenues for Microsoft, which became a publicly owned corporation in 1986. It issued the first version of Microsoft Word, its popular word-processing program, in 1983, and Microsoft Windows, a graphical user interface for MS-DOS-based computers, in 1985."

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