Microsoft, global leader in technology, founded in 1975 by Bill Gates, Paul Allen, originally $21 per share
Bill Gates left Harvard to launch Microsoft, a now-multibillion-dollar company
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Today, Microsoft is a leader in technology, widely known for the Windows operating system and a range of products like computers, tablets and video game consoles.
Microsoft has come a long way since it was started by childhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Allen stepped away from the company in 1983 due to his Hodgkin's disease diagnosis, but remained on the board of directors. Allen died from complications due to non-Hodgkins lymphoma in October 2018 when he was 65.
Gates led the company as its CEO for several years before the role was passed on to Steve Ballmer and then to Satya Nadella, who has held the role since 2014.
Bill Gates became a billionaire at age 31 thanks to the creation of Microsoft. (Getty Images)
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Take a look at the history of the company and how it is still technologically expanding today.
- How did Microsoft start?
- When did the first Windows operating system launch?
- When did Microsoft become a public company?
- Who is the CEO of Microsoft?
1. How did Microsoft start?
Gates left his Ivy League education behind at Harvard University to start Microsoft, formally Micro-Soft, with Allen.
The two started the company in 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The friends created Microsoft to produce software for the Altair 8800, one of the earliest personal computers.
Paul Allen, left, and Bill Gates were childhood friends-turned-business partners when they co-founded Microsoft in 1975. (Ann E. Yow-Dyson/Getty Images)
Shortly after Microsoft was founded, Gates and Allen picked up and moved their company to Washington state in 1979, when sales had already topped $1 million, and later licensed the MS-DOS operating system to IBM for the company's first personal computer.
2. When did the first Windows operating system launch?
During the 1980s, Microsoft continued to be a leader in software.
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The first public version of Windows launched in 1985. Features included in Windows 1.0 were a clipboard, a calendar, a clock, Windows Paint and more. In 1986, Microsoft moved headquarters, this time to Redmond, Washington. Two years later, Windows 2.0 came out with new versions featuring technological advancements continuing to follow.
Microsoft Office software applications were first released in 1990, beginning with the earliest versions of Excel, PowerPoint and Word. Since then, more software apps have been added, such as Outlook, OneNote and Publisher.
The very first version of Windows was released to the public in 1985. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Internet Explorer, Microsoft's web browser, was launched in 1995. The search engine Bing was launched in 2009.
A few years later, Microsoft faced legal trouble when it was hit with antitrust charges by the Department of Justice. The company was accused of attempting to create a monopoly in connection with its bundling of programs into its operating systems, according to Investopedia.
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A settlement was reached in 2001, with government restrictions placed on Microsoft's corporate practices, according to History.com. That same year, Microsoft joined the video game market with Xbox.
3. When did Microsoft become a public company?
In 1986, Microsoft went public at $21 per share, according to NASDAQ.
A year later, Gates popped up on the billionaire list, the youngest ever to hold the status at the time, at 31 years old.
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Microsoft is a seller of many devices today, including touchscreen laptops, portable tablets and desktops.
4. Who is the CEO of Microsoft?
Gates was the first to be CEO of Microsoft. He remained the company's CEO until 2000.
Satya Nadella became CEO of Microsoft in 2014. (Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance via Getty Images)
The role then went to Steve Ballmer, who became the company's first business manager in 1980, according to Reuters. He held the role until 2013, with Satya Nadella becoming the third CEO in the company's history in 2014.
One advancement under Nadella was the introduction of Copilot, the company's AI chatbot that rivals OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Bard and others.