Microsoft

Microsoft is one of the world’s most valuable companies, listed on NYSE with a market cap over $1 trillion (as of 2019). It is best known for its wildly successful operating system Windows and its productivity tools (Office). The company has since diversified, and it creates a whole host of consumer products such as its Surface laptops, its Xbox gaming console, a number of popular gaming franchises (Minecraft, Forza, and Halo), as well as enterprise technologies such as cloud computing (Azure), mixed reality (HoloLens) and quantum computing.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has been the richest person in the world for all but 6 years since 1995, and has since become known for his philanthropic work eradicating polio and malaria.