April 4, 1975
Former Lakeside School students Bill Gates and Paul Allen found Micro-Soft, a portmanteau of microcomputer and software, in Albuquerque, N.M.
Jan. 1, 1979
Microsoft moves to Bellevue, an unusual move as the tech industry was concentrated in California’s Silicon Valley and Boston.
Aug. 12, 1981
IBM releases its first personal computer, powered by Microsoft’s operating system MS-DOS 1.0.
Oct. 25, 1983
Microsoft releases Microsoft Word, a word processing application that lagged in sales behind other products like WordPerfect and Wordstar, before eclipsing them in the 1990s.
Sept. 30, 1985
Microsoft releases Microsoft Excel, a spreadsheet application that eventually rivaled top products of the 1980s like Lotus 1-2-3.
Feb. 26, 1986
Microsoft moves to Redmond, establishing its corporate campus.
March 13, 1986
Microsoft goes public at $21 per share, which increases to $35.50 before the end of the day. Bill Gates sells $1.6 million in shares, retaining a 45% stake in the company worth $350 million.
Aug. 1, 1989
Microsoft introduces its earliest version of Office, which bundled its Word, Excel and PowerPoint products. The strategy was key for Microsoft’s success. It was offering three products for one price while its competitors had all grown their businesses off a single product.
May 22, 1990
Microsoft launches Windows 3.0, introducing a new graphical user interface with clickable icons and the ability to multitask with applications. Prior versions of Windows were little more than lists of files. It also featured the first version of Windows’ solitaire card game.
June 1990
The Federal Trade Commission launches an inquiry into whether Microsoft was acting as a monopoly in the PC software market. No complaint was filed after the FTC deadlocks 2-2.
August 1993
The Department of Justice launches a similar probe.
June 1994
Microsoft and the DOJ announce a settlement in which the software maker agrees not to tie other Microsoft products to the sale of Windows.
Aug. 24, 1995
Microsoft launches Windows 95, revolutionizing how personal computers perform and look.
December 1996
Microsoft reaches $100 billion in market capitalization. The next year it became one of the five most valuable companies in the world, according to the Financial Times.
October 1997
The DOJ accuses Microsoft of violating its earlier agreement by tying its Internet Explorer browser application to Windows 95 licenses for PC manufacturers.
May 18, 1998
The DOJ and 20 state attorneys general sue Microsoft in a landmark antitrust case, accusing the company of using its market power to quash web browser competitors like Netscape.
Jan. 13, 2000
Bill Gates steps down as CEO. Steve Ballmer is named president and CEO of the company.
April 3, 2000
After settlement talks between Microsoft and the DOJ break down, a Washington, D.C., District Court judge rules Microsoft violated antitrust laws and engaged in monopolization. Microsoft appeals.
June 7, 2000
The judge orders that Microsoft be broken up.
June 28, 2001
A federal appeals court reverses the decision.
Sept. 6, 2001
The DOJ announces it is no longer seeking to break up Microsoft, setting the stage for a settlement.
Nov. 15, 2001
Microsoft jumps into the video game industry by launching the Xbox.
June 27, 2008
Bill Gates steps back from day-to-day operations to spend more time with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, later renamed to the Gates Foundation following the couple’s divorce.
Feb. 1, 2010
Microsoft makes Azure available commercially, its major introduction to cloud computing.
Feb. 4, 2014
Satya Nadella is named CEO and doubles down on the company’s cloud efforts.
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March 17, 2017
Microsoft rolls its cloud-based Office 365 suite of products out to customers worldwide.
April 25, 2019
Microsoft hits $1 trillion in market capitalization, the third U.S.-based company to do so after Apple and Amazon.
June 22, 2021
Microsoft reaches $2 trillion in market capitalization less than a year after Apple reaches the milestone. Google parent company Alphabet hit the benchmark a few months later.
Jan. 18, 2023
Microsoft extends partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.
March 16, 2023
Microsoft introduces its first artificial intelligence-powered Copilot product.
Jan. 24, 2024
Microsoft passes $3 trillion in market capitalization, one of only three companies in the world to do so. The other two are Apple and Nvidia.
Alex Halverson: 206-652-6352 or ahalverson@seattletimes.com.