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Today, Microsoft is a technology leader widely known for its Windows operating system and a range of products including computers, tablets, and video game consoles.
Microsoft has come a long way since it was founded by childhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Allen left the company in 1983 after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, but remained on the company’s board of directors. Allen died in October 2018 at age 65 from complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Gates led the company as CEO for several years before being succeeded by Steve Ballmer and then Satya Nadella, who has held the role since 2014.
Bill Gates became a billionaire at the age of 31 by founding Microsoft. (Getty Images)
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Let’s take a look at the company’s history and how it continues to expand technologically today.
- How did Microsoft get started?
- When was the first Windows operating system released?
- When did Microsoft become a publicly traded company?
- Who is the CEO of Microsoft?
1. How did Microsoft get started?
Gates gave up an Ivy League education at Harvard University to co-found Microsoft (formerly known as Microsoft) with Allen.
The two founded the company in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1975. The friends had founded Microsoft to develop software for the Altair 8800, one of the earliest personal computers.
Paul Allen (left) and Bill Gates were childhood friends who became business partners and co-founded Microsoft in 1975. (Ann E. Yeo Dyson/Getty Images)
Shortly after Microsoft was founded, Gates and Allen moved the company to Washington state in 1979, when sales had already topped $1 million, and later licensed its MS-DOS operating system to IBM for its first personal computers.
2. When was the first Windows operating system released?
Throughout the 1980s, Microsoft continued to be a leader in the software field.
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The first public version of Windows was released in 1985. Windows 1.0 included features such as the clipboard, calendar, clock, and Windows Paint. In 1986, Microsoft moved its headquarters to Redmond, Washington. Two years later, Windows 2.0 was released, and technological advancements have continued since then.
Microsoft Office software applications began with early versions of Excel, PowerPoint, and Word and were first released in 1990. Since then, additional software apps have been added, including Outlook, OneNote, and Publisher.
The first version of Windows was released to the public in 1985. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Microsoft’s web browser, Internet Explorer, was released in 1995. The search engine Bing was released in 2009.
A few years later, Microsoft faced legal troubles when the Department of Justice sued them for violating antitrust laws. According to Investopedia, the company was accused of trying to create a monopoly by bundling programs with its operating systems.
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According to History.com, a settlement was reached in 2001, and the government placed restrictions on Microsoft’s business activities, the same year Microsoft entered the video game market with the Xbox.
3. When did Microsoft become a publicly traded company?
Microsoft went public in 1986 at $21 per share, according to NASDAQ.
A year later, Gates became the youngest person ever to make the billionaire list, at age 31.
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Microsoft currently sells many devices, including touchscreen laptops, portable tablets, and desktops.
4. Who is the CEO of Microsoft?
Gates was the first CEO of Microsoft and served as the company’s CEO until 2000.
Satya Nadella became CEO of Microsoft in 2014. (Andrey Sokolow/Photo Alliance via Getty Images)
That role was then passed to Steve Ballmer, who became the company’s first president in 1980, according to Reuters. Ballmer served in that role until 2013, when Satya Nadella became the company’s third CEO in 2014.
One of the advancements under Nadella has been the introduction of Copilot, the company’s AI chatbot, which rivals OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, and others.
