Microsoft is one of the largest and most recognisable companies on the planet, operating in almost every single country too. But have you ever wondered: “Who owns Microsoft?”
Since Microsoft is a publicly traded company, the company is technically owned by the shareholders. Shareholders are the individuals or organisations that hold stock in Microsoft.
Like, there has to be someone in control of that ship!
What is Microsoft?
Microsoft is a now huge technology company founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Microsoft originally started selling products and services around the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office products.
Today, Microsoft host a vast array of services and products including operating systems, cloud services and hardware to mention a few.
Oh and since it’s 2024, Microsoft also has to have a stake in AI…
Who Owns Microsoft?
Since Microsoft is a publicly traded company, the company is technically owned by the shareholders. Shareholders are the individuals or organisations that hold stock in Microsoft.
As of today, the largest shareholders are:
- Vanguard Group
- Blackrock
- State Street Corporation
- FMR, LLC
- JP Morgan Chase & Company
Currently, the largest single shareholder is Vanguard which holds 600 million shares (600,461,130) at the time of writing. This equates to to just over 8% ownership at a value of $257 billion ($257,087,432,810)
Bill Gates himself still owns over 34 million shares of Microsoft (34,889,597) which equates to a small 0.47% ownership which a value of $14 billion ($14,937,980,956)
Enjoy! 🎉
