How Microsoft became tech’s top dog again

Few companies have experienced the ups and downs of the nearly 50-year-old Microsoft. It helped launch the PC revolution in the 1970s and became a colossus of the tech world in the 1980s and 1990s, essentially setting the tech world’s agenda. Then after a federal anti-trust suit and CEO Steve Ballmer’s poor leadership, the company fell into a tailspin and lost its tech luster during a “lost decade” that began in 2000.

When Satya Nadella took over as CEO from Ballmer in 2014, Microsoft began a slow, steady ascent, betting on the cloud rather than relying on Windows. But its comeback wasn’t based on beating competitors with new, innovative technologies. Rather, Microsoft gained ground by leveraging already existing technologies including the cloud, Office and Windows. No one looked to it for exciting tech; no one expected it to set tech’s agenda.

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