18 interesting facts about Microsoft

Whether you like it or not, Microsoft's influence is noticeable in everything. It originated as a start-up in 1970 and by the end of the nineties it had taken over the whole world. We can say that the history of the company went in parallel with the history of the development of personal computers. But how much do you know about this company? Some facts about it may well surprise you!

Shares

If you bought one share at a price of twenty-one dollars in March 1986, today you would own an equity valued at almost fifteen thousand! This is a terrific take-off - for thirty years the shares rose in price by 71.283%.

The Young Millionaire

The founder of the company, Bill Gates, at the age of thirty-one, became the youngest billionaire in the world. This happened in 1987. In 1995, he was already the richest man on the planet with an income of $ 12.9 billion.

Amazing growth

Analysts estimated that the rapid development of Microsoft allowed to become a billionaire not only Gates, but also two other employees, and twelve thousand employees of the company became millionaires. For example, former manager Steve Ballmer, who in 2014 acquired a team of "LA Clippers" for two billion dollars.

Gates House

In 1988, Bill Gates purchased his mansion "Xanadu 2.0", located in the city of Medina, in Washington State. He had to pay two million, but now the estate is estimated at 123 million US dollars.

Company `s logo

The creators of the firm Bill Gates and Paul Allen developed the first logo in less than a day. The unusual design of the letter "O" was called "blibbet".

Download sound

Well-known producer and musician Brian Ino created a soundtrack for Windows boot that was first used in Windows 95.

Music OS

The Windows 95 system was closely related to music: the official song was the song "Start Me Up" by The Rolling Stones. The luxury version was accompanied by a clip of the band Weezer for the song "Buddy Holly".

A unique program

The first most popular development of the company was Excel, in which it was possible to create tables - the program outperformed the versions from Apple and Lotus. Without this development, the company's future history might be completely different.

Sweet Tradition

Employees of the company should bring sweets "M & Ms" to the office on the days of their working jubilees - this is the company's tradition. It is customary to buy a pound for each year of service.

Details of traditions

The unusual tradition of the company became known when a former employee wrote about her in 2004.

Patents of the company

The company owns 48,313 patents, including a patent for the unusual development of headphones in a futuristic style.

Motivational Videos

At zero, Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer often appeared in the company's ridiculous motivational spots. Among the videos was even a parody of a comedy series of films about Austin Powers.

Cooperation with other corporations

Microsoft and Apple have collaborated on the software for the first Macintosh computer. Then came the Windows OS, after which there was a rivalry between Gates and Jobs.

Smart watch

In 1994 Timex and Microsoft created a smart watch called Datalink 150. This was the first device of its kind - twelve years earlier than Apple's. However, the gadget was not too good.

Salvation from bankruptcy

In 1997, the company saved Apple from almost inevitable bankruptcy, making an investment of $ 150 million. Steve Jobs announced this from the stage, first appeared in public as a manager, and was booed by the audience.

Innovations

Microsoft had early prototypes of many modern technologies - from tablets to television devices. In general, even the name "tablet" was developed by the company.

Games

The Xbox game console is a Microsoft product. The name is associated with the name of the program that provides the graphics.

Special OS

In 1995, the company released "Bob", a simplified version of the OS, which did not become popular with users.

Beverages

Employees of the company drink 23 million packs of free drinks from the company per year. Orange juice and milk predominate.