5 November 1999: Judge declares Microsoft a monopoly
Federal judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issued his findings of fact in the antitrust case against Microsoft, concluding the company held monopoly power and had used it to harm competitors and consumers. Shares fell when trading resumed, and a breakup order followed months later, only to be overturned on appeal. Microsoft survived intact, but the case is often credited with making room for rivals like Google.
The lesson: Antitrust fights rarely kill a dominant company, but they can change who wins next.
What it meant for investors
$1,000 in Microsoft at the start of 2000 → $12,000 today, vs $4,626 in the S&P 500.
We start the clock at the start of 2000, the first year in our price data after the event. That is 12.0 times the money, and $7,374 more than a plain index fund made over the same years.
What Microsoft teaches: A great business bought at a silly price can still deliver a lost decade; Microsoft's profits grew for years while its 2000 valuation slowly deflated.
| Bought in | Price then | Worth today | S&P 500 would be |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $40.00 | $12,000 | $4,626 |
| 2003 | $20.00 | $24,000 | $7,727 |
| 2005 | $27.00 | $17,778 | $5,763 |
green = beat the S&P 500 · red = lost money
What if you bought Microsoft? Every starting year and the full story →
More Microsoft history
- 30 January 2007: Windows Vista launches to consumers
- 13 March 1986: Microsoft goes public
- 4 April 1975: Microsoft is founded in Albuquerque
- 25 April 2019: Microsoft reaches a $1 trillion market value
- 27 June 2008: Bill Gates' last day as a full-time Microsoft employee
- 4 July 1996: Hotmail declares independence from your ISP
Could you have called it at the time? The wheel picks the year, you pick the position, ten seconds a pick.
Play Sixty-40