Claim: Bill Gates is the co-founder of Microsoft and is successful.

Microsoft Corporation -LRB- -LSB- ˈmaɪkrəˌsɒft , _ - roʊ - , _ - ˌsɔːft -RSB- , abbreviated as MS -RRB- is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond , Washington , that develops , manufactures , licenses , supports and sells computer software , consumer electronics and personal computers and services . Its best known software products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems , Microsoft Office office suite , and Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers . Its flagship hardware products are the Xbox video game consoles and the Microsoft Surface tablet lineup . As of 2016 , it is the world 's largest software maker by revenue , and one of the world 's most valuable companies .   Microsoft was founded by Paul Allen and Bill Gates on April 4 , 1975 , to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800 . It rose to dominate the personal computer operating system market with MS-DOS in the mid-1980s , followed by Microsoft Windows . The company 's 1986 initial public offering -LRB- IPO -RRB- , and subsequent rise in its share price , created three billionaires and an estimated 12,000 millionaires among Microsoft employees . Since the 1990s , it has increasingly diversified from the operating system market and has made a number of corporate acquisitions . In May 2011 , Microsoft acquired Skype Technologies for $ 8.5 billion , and in December 2016 bought LinkedIn for $ 26.2 billion .   , Microsoft is market-dominant in the IBM PC-compatible operating system market and the office software suite market , although it has lost the majority of the overall operating system market to Android . The company also produces a wide range of other software for desktops and servers , and is active in areas including Internet search -LRB- with Bing -RRB- , the video game industry -LRB- with the Xbox , Xbox 360 and Xbox One consoles -RRB- , the digital services market -LRB- through MSN -RRB- , and mobile phones -LRB- via the operating systems of Nokia 's former phones and Windows Phone OS -RRB- . In June 2012 , Microsoft entered the personal computer production market for the first time , with the launch of the Microsoft Surface , a line of tablet computers . With the acquisition of Nokia 's devices and services division to form Microsoft Mobile , the company re-entered the smartphone hardware market , after its previous attempt , Microsoft Kin , which resulted from their acquisition of Danger Inc. .   The word `` Microsoft '' is a portmanteau of `` microcomputer '' and `` software '' .