Microsoft is a publicly traded American company with no controlling owner. The Vanguard Group is its largest single holder at 8.95%, ahead of BlackRock at 7.30%, both measured as of September 30, 2025. Microsoft’s market capitalisation reached $3.58 trillion on August 18, 2026. Satya Nadella is chairman and chief executive.
Microsoft ownership at a glance
Microsoft files an annual proxy statement that names every holder above 5% of its common stock. Only two entities cleared that threshold in the most recent filing. The table below draws on that proxy, Microsoft’s fiscal 2026 annual report, and market data from August 2026.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Ownership type | Public company, dispersed shareholder base |
| Parent company | None — independent |
| Largest shareholders | The Vanguard Group (8.95%), BlackRock (7.30%) |
| Market capitalisation | $3.58 trillion (August 18, 2026) |
| Largest acquisition | Activision Blizzard, $68.7 billion, closed October 13, 2023 |
| Founded | April 1975, Albuquerque, New Mexico |
| Headquarters | One Microsoft Way, Redmond, Washington |
| CEO | Satya Nadella (chief executive since 2014, chairman since 2021) |
Who owns Microsoft today?
Microsoft had 7,425,545,491 shares of common stock outstanding on July 23, 2026, held by 74,199 registered holders of record, according to its fiscal 2026 Form 10-K.
The 2025 proxy statement lists Vanguard with 664,882,153 shares and BlackRock with 540,020,228 shares as of September 30, 2025. No other entity held more than 5%.
Insider ownership is small. All 18 directors and executive officers together held 2,279,620 shares on the same date, which Microsoft reported as less than 1% of the class. Nadella accounted for 900,572 of those shares and chief financial officer Amy Hood for 465,746.
GuruFocus put total institutional ownership at 81.55% as of July 10, 2026. The remainder sits with retail investors, former executives, and other individual holders who fall below the disclosure threshold.
Who controls Microsoft?
Control and economic ownership are the same thing at Microsoft. The company has a single class of common stock, and each share carries one vote, so no founder, executive, or trust holds voting power beyond its stake.
The board put forward 12 nominees at the December 2025 annual meeting, 11 of them independent. Nadella is the only director drawn from management. Sandra Peterson has served as lead independent director since March 2023, chairing executive sessions and leading the annual CEO evaluation.
Directors are elected annually by majority vote in uncontested elections. Shareholders holding 15% of outstanding shares can call a special meeting, and the bylaws let groups of up to 20 shareholders holding 3% for at least three years nominate directors through the company’s own proxy materials.
Who are Microsoft’s largest shareholders?
Vanguard and BlackRock are the only two names Microsoft is required to disclose. Both hold Microsoft primarily through index funds that track the S&P 500 and broader US market benchmarks, where Microsoft carries one of the heaviest weightings.
Among individuals, former chief executive Steve Ballmer is widely reported as the largest holder. His last SEC-reported position, filed in 2014 before he left the board, showed 333.2 million shares. He has not been required to disclose since, so the current figure is not public.
Bill Gates last reported roughly 103 million shares in October 2019. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, which held Microsoft as its anchor position for two decades, closed that position entirely. A 13F filing disclosed on May 15, 2026 showed the Trust sold its final 7.7 million shares, worth about $3.2 billion, during the first quarter of 2026. The Trust cited a planned wind-down of the endowment by 2045 rather than any view on the business.
Gates Foundation Trust holdings in Microsoft
28.5m
7.7m
0m
Who are the biggest investors in Microsoft?
The shareholder register is dominated by passive money. Index managers buy Microsoft in proportion to its benchmark weight rather than on a view of the company, which is why the same handful of asset managers appear at the top of nearly every large-cap US register.
Active positions still move the register. Pershing Square disclosed a new Microsoft holding of roughly 5.65 million shares, valued near $2.09 billion, in its first-quarter 2026 13F, funded by exiting its Alphabet position.
- The Vanguard Group — 664,882,153 shares, 8.95%
- BlackRock — 540,020,228 shares, 7.30%
- Steve Ballmer — 333.2 million shares at his last 2014 disclosure
- Pershing Square Capital Management — 5.65 million shares, Q1 2026
Is Microsoft publicly traded?
Yes. Microsoft trades on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker MSFT. It went public on March 13, 1986 at $21 per share.
The company pays a quarterly dividend, most recently $0.91 per share with an ex-dividend date of August 20, 2026. Revenue for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026 was $331.8 billion, up 18%, with net income of $133.7 billion. That result included a $3.2 billion gain on its holding in Anthropic, one of several AI companies moving toward public listings.
FAQ: who owns Microsoft
Who founded Microsoft?
Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in April 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Its first product was a BASIC interpreter for the Altair computer. Neither founder holds a controlling stake today.
Does Microsoft own OpenAI?
No. Microsoft held about 27% of OpenAI at the October 2025 recapitalisation and was diluted by the March 2026 round. The OpenAI Foundation appoints the entire board. See the full OpenAI ownership breakdown.
Does Bill Gates still own Microsoft shares?
His last public disclosure, in October 2019, showed roughly 103 million shares. He no longer files. The Gates Foundation Trust sold its remaining 7.7 million shares in the first quarter of 2026.
Who is Microsoft’s largest individual shareholder?
Steve Ballmer, chief executive from 2000 to 2014, reported 333.2 million shares in his final 2014 filing. He has not disclosed since leaving the board, so his current holding is not public.
Does Microsoft have a parent company?
No. Microsoft is independent, with no controlling shareholder and a single class of stock. It does hold minority stakes in other firms, including OpenAI and Anthropic’s investor group.
