Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Company Profile

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Corporate Headquarters

One Microsoft Way,
Redmond, Washington, United States
Website

Background and Company History of Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation that develops, manufactures and supports various products and services related to computing mainly in softwares area. Microsoft is guided by five business offerings in their products and services, namely:  Windows & Windows Live, Server and Tools, Online Services, Microsoft Business, and Entertainment & Devices.

The company was launched on April 4, 1975 to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for Altair 8800. In the mid-80s, it rose to dominate the home computer operating system market with MS-DOS, followed by the most popular Microsoft Windows line of operating systems. The stock rise of the 1986 initial public offering (IPO) made Microsoft and Bill Gates a household name.

Microsoft has since dominated the market, notably, the Microsoft Office Suite.  According to NASDAQ Stock Market financial summary, it has a revenue of US$62.484 billion (2010) and profit of US$18.760 billion (2010).   In terms of the latest trends in Internet technology and computing, Microsoft is one of the greatest worldwide players, alongside Google, Apple Inc, and eBay.

Timeline of Microsoft Corporation at a Glance

1968 Gates starts at Seattle Lakeside Prep School, where he met Paul Allen
1973 Gates enrols at Harvard, where he meets Steve Ballmer
1975 Gates and Allen goes into partnership, with “Micro-Soft”
1975 “Microsoft” registered
1979 Company moves to Seattle, Washington
1980 IBM awards Microsoft the contract to supply MS-DOS, operating system for its PC
1985 Microsoft Windows launched
1986 Microsoft Goes Public
2000 The US Justice Department declares Microsoft “an abusive monopoly”
2000 Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation established
2007 Microsoft allows competitors access to its technology, after a 9-year battle with EU
2010 At Gamescom (Cologne, Germany), Microsoft announces the first wave of games available for Windows Phone 7; re-inventions of classics such as Age of Empires Online and Microsoft Flight

Microsoft’s Number of Employees

89,000 employees (worldwide)

Microsoft’s Team and Board of Directors

Founders

William Henry “Bill” Gates III
Paul Allen

Board of Directors

Steve Ballmer, CEO
Dina Dublon, Former Chief Financial Officer, JPMorgan Chase
Bill Gates, Chairman
Raymond V. Gilmartin, Former Chairman, President & CEO, Merck & Co., Inc.
Reed Hastings, Founder, Chairman & CEO, Netflix, Inc.
Maria M. Klawe, President, Harvey Mudd College
David F. Marquardt, General Partner, August Capital
Charles H. Noski, EVP & CFO, Bank of America Corporation
Dr. Helmut Panke, Former Chairman of the Board of Management, BMW AG

Senior Leaders

J Allard, CEO and CTO, Entertainment & Devices Division
Robert J. Bach, President, Entertainment & Devices Division
Steve Balmer, Chief Executive Officer
Lisa Brummel, Senior Vice President, Human Resources
Jean-Philippe Courtois, President, Microsoft International
Stephen Elop, President, Microsoft Business Division
Peter Klein, Chief Financial Officer
Oi Lu, President, Online Services Division
Mich Mathews, Senior Vice President, Central Marketing Group
Bob Muglia, President, Server and Tools Business
Craig Mundie, Chief Research and Strategy Officer
Ray Ozzie, Chief Software Architect
Rick Rashid, Senior Vice President, Research
Eric Rudder, Senior Vice President, Technical Strategy
Steven Sinofsky, President, Windows and Windows Live Division
Brad Smith (LCA), General Counsel and SVP, Legal and Corporate Affairs
B. Kevin Turner, Chief Operating Officer
Hank Vigil, Senior Vice President, Consumer Strategy and Partnership

Products and Services of Microsoft Corporation

Windows & Windows Live

Windows product family responsible for relationships with personal computer manufacturers, online software and services through Windows Live

Server and Tools

Software server products, services and solutions, including Windows Server operating system, Microsoft SQL Server, Visual Studio, Silverlight, System Center products, Forefront security products, Biz Talk Server, and Microsoft Consulting Services

Online Services

Advertising platform online with offerings for publishers and advertisers, and online information offerings such as Bing and the MSN portals and channels

Microsoft Business

Microsoft Office suites, desktop programs, servers, and services and solutions; Microsoft Dynamics; and Unified Communications business solutions

Entertainment and Devices

• Xbox video game system, including consoles and accessories
• Xbox Live operations
• Zune digital music and entertainment device
• Mediaroom, mobile and embedded device platforms
• Surface computing platform
• Windows Automotive

Microsoft’s mission continues, as the company professed in the early 1980s: “A computer on every desk and in every home, running Microsoft software.”

Resource by Tel

Tel Asiado is a writer, author, and business consultant, previously, IT manager & consultant. Her articles reflect her interests, from small business, biographies & histories, to classical music especially Mozart, art & literature, biographies, and Christian writings. Tel has produced non-fictions, e-books and anthologies. Her education is MBA in Computer Management, BSc Chemistry, Diploma in Small Business & Internet Mktg, and Cert IV Training and Assessment (TAA). Her small office/home site is homebizideasnow.com, and numerous information of Mozart and classical music, mozartandclassicalmusic.com.

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