How a 1975 software deal created 12,000 millionaires
Before it was a trillion-dollar titan, Microsoft was a small venture selling interpreters for a single microcomputer. A strategic pivot in the 1980s didn't just dominate the PC market; it triggered a massive wealth transfer that turned thousands of employees into millionaires.
The origins of Microsoft trace back to 1975, when Bill Gates and Paul Allen developed a BASIC interpreter for the Altair 8800. This followed an earlier, more rudimentary attempt by the pair in 1972 called Traf-O-Data, which analyzed automobile traffic. The success of the Altair BASIC project led to the official establishment of Microsoft on April 4, 1975.
The company's path to unprecedented wealth was paved by its dominance in the operating system market. By securing a contract with IBM in November 1980 to provide an OS for the IBM PC, and subsequently branding a version of 86-DIS as MS-DOS, Microsoft positioned itself at the center of the personal computing revolution. This momentum culminated in a 1986 initial public offering (IPO) that was so successful it created an estimated 12,000 millionaires among the company's workforce.
Since that era, the company has undergone several fundamental shifts in leadership and strategy. Under Steve Ballmer, who took the helm in 2000, Microsoft expanded into hardware with the Surface line and acquired Skype in 2011. However, it was under Satya Nadella, who became CEO in 2014, that the company pivoted toward cloud computing and Azure. This evolution has seen Microsoft grow from a software provider into a diversified giant, reaching a valuation of over $1 trillion by April 2019.
Despite its financial triumphs, the company's history is marked by intense legal scrutiny. The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have scrutinized Microsoft for monopolistic practices and antitrust violations, particularly regarding the bundling of software like Internet Explorer and the licensing of processors.
Source: Microsoft
