|
Caps off to Microsoft
|
 |
February 25, 1998: 6:49 p.m. ET
Software giant's market cap tops $200 billion mark, second only to GE
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Call it revenge of the nerds.
Microsoft Corp., which supplies the software that powers almost 90 percent of the world's personal computers, achieved another milestone Wednesday when its market capitalization crossed the $200 billion mark.
For Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft the distinction -- which puts the software giant second only to General Electric Co. in the market cap derby -- is quite an accomplishment for a company that wasn't even around when Richard Nixon was forced to leave the White House.
It also underscores the increasing importance of the information age as high tech powerhouses such as Microsoft and chip maker Intel Corp. supplant rust belt giants like General Motors Corp., Caterpillar Inc. and USX Corp.
In large part, Microsoft's growing popularity on Wall Street can be traced to Chairman Bill Gates. Known as a fierce competitor, Gates and his legion of nerdy software developers virtually transformed the tiny software company into a juggernaut.
Gates' in-your-face style has also attracted the ire of the Justice Department, which is examining whether the company is unfairly using its dominance in the operating system software business to gain control of the Internet browser market.
So far, the investigation has done little to slow Microsoft down. On Wednesday, Microsoft stock closed at 84-15/16, up 2-13/16. So far this year the stock is up 31 percent, making it one of the biggest gainers among widely held stocks. Based on the 2.42 billion shares outstanding, Microsoft's market capitalization is now at nearly $206 billion, within striking distance of GE's $252.2 billion market cap.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Microsoft
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNNmoney
|
|
|
|
 |
|
