Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers and related services. It was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975. The company’s best-known software products are the Windows range of operating systems, the global phenomenon that is the Microsoft Office suite, and the Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers. Its most important hardware products include the Xbox video game console and the Microsoft Surface personal computer.
The firm also publishes books and multimedia titles, manufactures an in-house line of hybrid tablet computers, offers email services, and sells electronic game systems and computer paraphernalia. It is also a leading cloud-computing service provider.
The company frequently ranks in the top 20 Fortune 500 rankings of the largest US corporations by total revenue. It is one of the unofficial Big Five American information technology companies, alongside Alphabet, Amazon, Apple and Meta. The company has sales offices around the world and research laboratories in key cities on each continent. In April 2019, Microsoft reached the trillion-dollar market cap, becoming the third US public company to be valued at over $1 trillion, after fellow behemoths Apple and Amazon.