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Microsoft Corporation
Prepared under the direction of: Dr. Mary Tucker in Management 691.
Authors: Jonathan Leal, Sonya Faust, Kiesha Gasparac, Kumi Takimoto
Date submitted: August 1, 2000
Company history
In 1975 the brainchild of William H. Gates III
and Paul Allen was born with a new version of BASIC written for an Altair microcomputer kit. The two men then created
and named their partnership Micro-soft. It was not until 1980 that Microsoft would have its big break. Because
of a failed negotiation between IBM and Digital research, IBM turned to the smaller company and awarded them the
contract. Microsoft retained its rights to sell the system to other companies, and IBM could work with other companies,
which had hardware compatible to IBM PCs.
Microsoft incorporated in 1981 and had skyrocketing revenues of $16 million. By 1983, the company had produced
Word 1.0 to supplement the expensive and more complicated WordStar, but it would not be until 1986 and the 3.0
version that the program would become successful. During the early 1980s Microsoft worked closely with Apple to
develop the Macintosh computer with graphical interfaces of icons rather then typed commands common in IBMs. On
the Macintosh, Microsoft introduced versions of BASIC, Word, and Multiplan (a spreadsheet program). From the high
sales for the Mac, Microsoft began developing an interface manager that would work on top of MS-DOS making everything
far user-friendlier than before and also have the ability to work with non-standardized programs on the computers.
With the help of Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, Texas instruments, Digital Equipment Corporation, and others, Microsoft
Windows was brought into existence after numerous delays and received a disappointing reception. The one plus that
Microsoft did have was in its introduction of Excel 1.0, which eventually took over as the leading choice for spreadsheet
programs.
The late 1980s began with a move to Redmond, Washington and the creation of a culture that would hopefully produce
a comfortable atmosphere promoting creativity. The employees were expected to work long hours but were given stock
options that would lead to many becoming millionaires. The company went public in 1986 with an initial public offering
of 2.5 million shares bringing in $61 million. These years were busy. It released its first CD-ROM product, acquired
PowerPoint, introduced an improved version of Windows, and by 1989 had developed Microsoft Office containing a
suite of programs that eventually came to dominate the market. It had even weathered the lawsuit brought on by
Apple for copyright infringement.
Time has been pretty good to Microsoft. The 1990s became a decade of expansion and growth in which it has looked
for new business to invest in. Along with its vastly-improved Windows NT and Windows 95, Microsoft has joined with
NBC to create MSNBC an online news service and cable channel. It has turned to the Internet with the Microsoft
Network (MSN), and other computer-like devices such as pocket organizers, mobile phones, digital cameras and many
more items. Because of the large market share that Microsoft has, many feel as if it is a monopoly. The U.S. Department
of Justice and 20 state Attorney Generals brought up charges in 1998. Found guilty of antitrust violations, the
company is now in the appeal courts fighting the decision and the threat of being forced to break up or license
the source code for Windows to competitors.
-- Adapted from International Directory of Company Histories