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Organization

Microsoft

American software and cloud-computing company founded in 1975.

15 links, 13 backed by primary records

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Dates
1975 –
Also known as
Microsoft Corporation
Over time
  1. Active 1975 –
  2. owns a stake in OpenAI (27%, as of 31 Dec 2025) Oct 2025 –
Who holds Microsoft

Index-fund managers hold these shares for the people invested in their funds, who get their gains and losses. The managers vote them, in part or in full.

Each line is from its own filing and date, so they do not add up. Some filings report a number of shares and no percent.

Microsoft holds

Microsoft was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and moved to the Seattle area in 1979.

The Vanguard Group and BlackRock each hold more than 5% of its shares for clients.

Its breakthrough was the 1980 IBM–Microsoft operating-system deal: it supplied the operating system for the IBM PC by buying 86-DOS from Seattle Computer Products, and kept the right to license it to others. In 2007 it bought a $240 million stake in Facebook.

Connections 15

founded by

invested in

  • Meta Platforms Oct 2007 equity stake at a $15 billion valuation, $240M Primary record 9
  • OpenAI 22 Jul 2019 $1B Primary record 10
  • OpenAI 2021 Primary record 11
  • OpenAI 23 Jan 2023 multiyear, multibillion-dollar investment (third phase) Primary record 11

shares held for clients by

  • The Vanguard Group until 12 Jan 2026 8.95%, 664,882,153 shares, as of 30 Sep 2025 Held for clients Primary record 212

    Percentage from Microsoft's proxy table; the share count comes from Vanguard's Schedule 13G/A filed in February 2024. On 27 March 2026 The Vanguard Group reported 0 Microsoft shares (Schedule 13G/A No. 10) after an internal realignment on 12 January 2026. Vanguard Capital Management now reports the funds' holding: 7.48% as of 31 March 2026.

  • BlackRock 7.3%, 540,020,228 shares, as of 30 Sep 2025 Held for clients Primary record 2

    Percentage from Microsoft's proxy table; the share count comes from BlackRock's Schedule 13G/A filed in February 2024.

  • State Street Corporation 315,653,206 shares, as of 30 Jun 2026 Held for clients Primary record 34

    Counts the shares reported for State Street Corporation and the units named in its 13F report. It reports sole voting authority over 38,135,141 of them, and no percent.

  • Vanguard Capital Management 7.48%, 555,988,240 shares, as of 31 Mar 2026 Held for clients Primary record 1

    Counts Microsoft shares held by Vanguard funds that VCM manages, plus some affiliates' client accounts. VCM reported sole voting power over 73,430,154 of them. Filed on 30 April 2026, after The Vanguard Group reported 0 shares following its internal realignment of 12 January 2026.

owns a stake in

  • OpenAI Oct 2025 – 27%, as of 31 Dec 2025 Primary record 56

acquired

  • 86-DOS 1981 $50,000 Scholarship & press 13

    Licensed in December 1980 for $25,000; all rights bought the next summer for a further $50,000.

contracts from

  • IBM Nov 1980 operating system for the IBM PC Primary record 1314

involved in

located in

  • Albuquerque Primary record 15

    Microsoft's first home, from its founding in 1975 until January 1979.

Timeline 11 dates
  1. 1975 – Microsoft
  2. 1975 Bill Gates founded Microsoft
  3. 1975 Paul Allen founded Microsoft
  4. Nov 1980 IBM awarded a contract to Microsoft
  5. 1981 Microsoft acquired 86-DOS
  6. Oct 2007 Microsoft invested in Meta Platforms
  7. 22 Jul 2019 Microsoft invested in OpenAI
  8. 2021 Microsoft invested in OpenAI
  9. 23 Jan 2023 Microsoft invested in OpenAI
  10. Oct 2025 – Microsoft owns a stake in OpenAI
  11. until 12 Jan 2026 The Vanguard Group holds shares for clients in Microsoft
Proof 15 sources
  1. Schedule 13G of Vanguard Capital Management regarding Microsoft Corporation, Vanguard Capital Management, 30 Apr 2026. Primary record
    Amount beneficially owned: 555988240 (b) Percent of class: 7.48 %
  2. Microsoft Corporation 2025 proxy statement (Schedule 14A), Microsoft, 21 Oct 2025. Primary record
    All information about BlackRock, Inc. is based on a Schedule 13G/A filed with the SEC on February 13, 2024.
    All information about The Vanguard Group, Inc. is based on a Schedule 13G/A filed with the SEC on February 13, 2024.
  3. Form 13F-HR/A (Amendment No. 1, restatement) of State Street Corporation for the quarter ended June 30, 2026: information table, State Street Corporation, 22 Sep 2026. Primary record
    315653206
  4. State Street Corporation annual report for 2025 (Form 10-K), State Street Corporation, 19 Feb 2026. Primary record
    State Street Bank operates as a specialized bank, referred to as a trust or custody bank, that services and manages assets on behalf of its institutional clients.
  5. Microsoft Corporation Form 10-Q, quarter ended December 31, 2025, Microsoft, 28 Jan 2026. Primary record
    We have an investment of approximately 27 percent of OpenAI on an as-converted basis accounted for under the equity method of accounting.
  6. The next chapter of the Microsoft–OpenAI partnership, Microsoft, 28 Oct 2025. Primary record
    Following the recapitalization, Microsoft holds an investment in OpenAI Group PBC valued at approximately $135 billion, representing roughly 27 percent on an as-converted diluted basis, inclusive of all owners – employees, investors, and the OpenAI Foundation.
  7. Bill Gates (leadership biography), Gates Foundation. Primary record
    Bill co-founded Microsoft Corporation in 1975 with Paul Allen and led the company to become the worldwide leader in business and personal software and services.
  8. Microsoft Corporation annual report (Form 10-K), fiscal year ended June 30, 2026, Microsoft, 29 Jul 2026. Primary record
    Founded in 1975, we develop and support software, services, devices, and solutions that deliver new value for customers and help people and businesses realize their full potential.
  9. Facebook and Microsoft Expand Strategic Alliance, Microsoft, 24 Oct 2007. Primary record
    Microsoft will take a $240 million equity stake in Facebook’s next round of financing at a $15 billion valuation.
  10. OpenAI forms exclusive computing partnership with Microsoft to build new Azure AI supercomputing technologies, Microsoft, 22 Jul 2019. Primary record
    Multiyear partnership founded on shared values of trustworthiness and empowerment, and an investment of $1 billion from Microsoft, will focus on building a platform that OpenAI will use to create new AI technologies and deliver on the promise of artificial general intelligence
  11. Microsoft and OpenAI extend partnership, Microsoft, 23 Jan 2023. Primary record
    This agreement follows our previous investments in 2019 and 2021.
    Today, we are announcing the third phase of our long-term partnership with OpenAI through a multiyear, multibillion dollar investment to accelerate AI breakthroughs to ensure these benefits are broadly shared with the world.
  12. Schedule 13G/A (Amendment No. 10) of The Vanguard Group regarding Microsoft Corp, The Vanguard Group, 27 Mar 2026. Primary record
    On January 12, 2026, The Vanguard Group, Inc. went through an internal realignment.
  13. Microsoft MS-DOS early source code, Computer History Museum, 25 Mar 2014. Scholarship & press
    Microsoft originally licensed 86-DOS in December 1980 for a flat fee of $25,000. By the next summer they recognized the importance of owning it and being able to license it to other companies making IBM-PC clones, so they purchased all rights for an additional $50,000.
    When Microsoft signed the contract with IBM in November 1980, they had no such operating system.
    Microsoft retained the rights to the operating system and licensed it to other computer manufacturers, calling it MS-DOS.
  14. The IBM PC, IBM. Primary record
    Microsoft provided the OS, which would later become known as MS-DOS.
  15. Facts about Microsoft, Microsoft. Primary record
    Jan. 1, 1979 Microsoft moves from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Bellevue, Washington
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