Video gallery
Copilot reunites Gates, Nadella and Ballmer
Microsoft 50th Anniversary + Copilot Event: Satya Nadella Opening
Anniversary photos
Bill Gates, Microsoft Co-founder and Gates Foundation Chair; Steve Ballmer, former Microsoft CEO and Ballmer Group Co-founder; and Satya Nadella, Microsoft Chairman and CEO, on stage at the anniversary event. (Photo by Dan DeLong)
Satya Nadella, Microsoft Chairman and CEO, on stage at the Microsoft 50th anniversary and Copilot event. (Photo by Dan DeLong)
Satya Nadella, Microsoft Chairman and CEO, shares applause with the audience on stage at the anniversary event. (Photo by Dan DeLong)
Bill Gates, Microsoft Co-founder and Gates Foundation Chair, speaks with actor Brenda Song, who served as the Microsoft 50th anniversary and Copilot event co-host. (Photo by Dan DeLong)
Bill Gates, Microsoft Co-founder and Gates Foundation Chair, and Brenda Song, Microsoft 50th anniversary and Copilot event co-host, share a laugh onstage. (Photo by Dan DeLong)
Steve Ballmer, former Microsoft CEO and Ballmer Group Co-founder, joins Brenda Song, Microsoft 50th anniversary and Copilot event co-host, onstage. (Photo by Dan DeLong)
Microsoft rings the Nasdaq Opening Bell in celebration of its 50th anniversary. (Photo by Vanja Savic for Nasdaq, Inc.)
Bill Borden, Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Global Financial Services; Adena Friedman, Nasdaq Chair and Chief Executive Officer; and Shelley Bransten, Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Global Industry Solutions, on the Nasdaq MarketSite bell ringing podium. (Photo by Vanja Savic for Nasdaq, Inc.)
How is the company celebrating its 50th anniversary?
Microsoft is commemorating our 50-year anniversary by celebrating the achievements of our employees, customers and partners that have dreamt, built and used Microsoft technology as a force for good, while also looking ahead to the future.
Microsoft recognizes that our success and growth globally would not have been possible without the support of the place we call home, the Puget Sound. We are honoring and awarding 50 local changemakers with $50,000 grants each to support the important work they do to address the needs of the region. Read more about the One Future, One Sound initiative.
What were Microsoft’s biggest accomplishments over the last 50 years?
Over the past five decades, Microsoft has driven innovation that has transformed the way that society uses technology both at work and at home, from revolutionizing personal computing with MS-DOS and Windows, bringing the joy and community of gaming to everyone on the planet with Xbox, to driving the future of cloud computing with Azure and AI transformation with Copilot and our AI platform. We are proud of our employees, past and present, who have seized the opportunity to reinvent our company as tech paradigms shift, to stay relevant and earn the trust of our customers and partners.
For more information on the company’s key milestones, explore this timeline of Microsoft’s journey.
How has the company’s mission evolved?
The heart of Microsoft’s mission has always been about empowering people through technology, and this will continue as we look to the future.
In its beginnings, Bill Gates and Paul Allen articulated an ambitious vision for Microsoft and the industry, “a computer on every desk and in every home.” In 2002, the mission changed “to enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential,” which was later expanded to include creating technology that transforms the way people learn, work, play and communicate. In 2015, CEO Satya Nadella evolved Microsoft’s mission “to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.”
What has Microsoft learned over the past 50 years that drives the company today?
As a platform company, we’ve learned that we do well when the world does well. That is embodied in our mission, our business model, our practices and our culture. Our cultural journey is ongoing and adaptive, and over the last decade, we’ve grounded ourselves in a Growth Mindset culture. Internally, this has helped our employees embrace challenges, be curious, learn from failures and continuously seek improvement. Externally, this cultural transformation has enabled Microsoft to better understand and meet our customers’ needs and work to earn their trust every day.
We also believe deeply in the power of partnership and that no one person, company or government can solve the world’s problems alone. This insight drives Microsoft’s approach to partnerships, collaboration, openness and transparency, rooted in bringing people and organizations together to tackle challenges.
What is Microsoft focused on for the next 50 years?
As we look to the future, our mission remains to empower every person and organization, and our success hinges on how we harness AI and other technologies to amplify human achievement and create positive change for society.
The innovations we’re developing today will define the next five decades. And we remain focused on translating innovation into enduring value for our customers.
We are also recommitting ourselves to the framework that has made us successful – investing in our people, living up to our mission, earning the trust of our customers and the countries we operate in, innovating responsibly, prioritizing fundamentals with security above all else and building products where the world can benefit.
1970s
An early Microsoft office in Albuquerque, N.M. The company was based there from 1976-1978, before relocating to Washington state.
1980s
1990s
Spring 1990: Windows 3.0 is released and includes the free game Solitaire for the first time.
May 26, 1995: Bill Gates’ “The Internet Tidal Wave” memo predicts the internet’s transformative potential.
2000s
2010s
February 2014: Three generations of Microsoft CEOs celebrate as Steve Ballmer passes the baton to Satya Nadella.
October 5, 2017: Microsoft launches TechSpark, a national civic program aimed at fostering greater economic opportunity in rural and smaller metropolitan communities.
2020s
February 7, 2023: Microsoft announces an all new, AI-powered Bing search engine and Edge browser.
Celebrating with our customers and partners
Microsoft 50th anniversary customer and partner gratitude
Avanade CEO Rodrigo Caserta congratulates Microsoft on an incredible 50 years
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on the game-changing Microsoft collaboration
IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna celebrates Microsoft’s 50th anniversary
