Microsoft has become just the third company in the world to cross $2 trillion valuation.
Only a few companies have crossed the $1 trillion threshold, including PetroChina, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Saudi Aramco and Alphabet. Of those companies, only Saudi Aramco and Apple had previously crossed $2 trillion.
Microsoft now joins the $2 trillion dollar club, becoming only the third company to do so. Much of the company’s success is as a result of Satya Nadella’s leadership. Under Nadella, Microsoft has shifted its focus to the cloud, becoming the second-largest cloud platform.
Nadella has also lead Microsoft toward becoming a better team player in the larger tech industry. The company was once known for brutal competitiveness, squashing threats with a vengeance and using its dominance on the desktop to do so. Such behavior landed the company in hot water with the government, leading to the landmark antitrust trial of the early 2000s.
In recent times, the company has stopped focusing so much on protecting its own desktop OS and, instead, has pivoted to making its software and services available on a wide array of platforms. The company has also embraced open source software, and is a major contributor to a number of important projects.
All of this has lead the company to new heights, while also helping it avoid much of the antitrust scrutiny its rivals are currently under. If there was any doubt about the direction Nadella has led the company, crossing this most recent threshold is a major validation of his leadership.