| Microsoft | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Type | Public | ||
| Founded | April 4, 1975 | ||
| Headquarters |  Redmond, Washington
| ||
| Key people | John W. Thompson Brad Smith Satya Nadella Bill Gates Phil Spencer | ||
| Industry | Technology | ||
| Products | Computers, Software, Video Games | ||
| Employees | 134,944 (2018) | ||
| Website | https://www.microsoft.com/ | ||
Microsoft Corporation is an American technology company founded on April 4, 1975 by Bill Gates and the late Paul Allen. It is best known for the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems. The company is also known for manufacturing hardware products, including the Xbox video game consoles. Its video game division, Xbox Game Studios, publishes well-known series such as Halo, Gears of War, and Forza in addition to indie-developed titles such as Minecraft, Super Lucky's Tale, Ori and the Blind Forest, and its sequel Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
On September 24th, 2002, Microsoft purchased Rare from Nintendo, alongside the license for their original intellectual properties, such as Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, and Conker. Rare's contributions to the Donkey Kong and Star Fox franchises remain under Nintendo's ownership, excluding certain characters from Diddy Kong Racing