Numbers

~$3.3T

briefly overtook Apple as the world's most valuable public company

[Bloomberg 2024] · as of 2024-01

• David:Microsoft is now one of only a very small number of companies that have ever been worth over three trillion dollars.
  [Acquired Microsoft Volume II]
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$50,000

Gates bought QDOS from Seattle Computer Products and licensed it to IBM without giving IBM exclusivity

[Acquired Microsoft I] · as of 1980

• David:Critically, crucially, the most important business decision in the history of Microsoft: Bill negotiates to license DOS to IBM non-exclusively. So Microsoft can license DOS to other manufacturers.
  [Acquired Microsoft I, ch. The IBM deal]
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~$105B

Azure + server products, now larger than the original Windows/Office business

[Microsoft FY2024 annual results] · as of 2024-06

~400M+

dominant enterprise productivity suite; switching costs compound with every year a user's files and workflows stay inside Office

[Microsoft FY2024 disclosures] · as of 2024

~flat

Microsoft stock returned roughly 0% over 14 years even as revenue tripled — the market priced missed mobile + search bets

[Acquired Steve Ballmer Interview + public record] · as of 2014

• Guest:During those 14 years the stock didn't go up. Revenue tripled. But the stock price didn't change. And I think partly you could argue that there were places where I just got it wrong.
  [Acquired Steve Ballmer Interview]
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