$ cat ./records/microsoft-becomes-the-first-pc-software-firm-to-top-1-billion-in--1990.txt
Microsoft becomes the first PC-software firm to top $1 billion in sales
[RECORD.TXT] · cat --full
In its 1990 fiscal year Microsoft became the first personal-computer software company to exceed $1 billion in annual sales, reporting revenue of roughly $1.18 billion with about 5,600 employees. The milestone, reached the same year it launched the breakthrough Windows 3.0, confirmed the scale of the business Bill Gates had built in just 15 years.
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/shows/history/history-of-microsoft-1990
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Related Accomplishments
2026
Gates Foundation Trust Sells Off the Last of Its Microsoft Stock
In the first quarter of 2026, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust sold its remaining Microsoft shares, fully exiting a position in the very company that created Gates's fortune — capping a long, deliberate diversification away from the stock. The endowment that funds Gates's philanthropy, managed separately from its grant-making through Cascade, is now anchored instead by Berkshire Hathaway, Waste Management, railroads, and heavy-equipment makers. The sale underscored how thoroughly Gates's giving had decoupled from Microsoft's day-to-day fortunes.
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