18 amazing facts you probably didn't know about Microsoft (MSFT)

Microsoft

Like it or not, Microsoft is everywhere.

From its origins as a super-hot startup in the 1970s to taking over the world in the 1990s to its current reinvention under CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft has a long and storied history right alongside the PC itself.

But how much do you really know about Microsoft?

Here are 18 things you probably never knew about the biggest name in the PC business.

If you bought one share of Microsoft stock for $21 at its March 13, 1986, IPO, it would be worth $14,990 today. That's a whopping 71,283% increase over 30 years.

In fact, in 1987, at age 31, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates became the youngest billionaire ever at the time. In 1995, he'd become the world's richest man with a net worth of $12.9 billion.

Analysts estimate that Microsoft's explosive growth has made for at least two billionaires other than Gates, and as many as 12,000 millionaires. Like former CEO Steve Ballmer, who bought the LA Clippers for $2 billion in 2014.