Private corporation formed
Microsoft incorporated before its public listing. Its later prospectus identifies venture fund ownership and preferred shares.
Enterprise software · MSFT
Microsoft
Microsoft’s venture-backed ownership and preferred conversion are documented in its 1986 prospectus. The calculator starts at its $21 IPO because a reliable cash subscription price is not established here.
01 / YOUR SCENARIO
Choose your starting point.
Starting price: $21 · IPO · 1986-03-13
288 MSFT share equivalents per starting share at your ending date.
Uses documented share adjustments through 2003-02-18. Assumes the share basis remains comparable after that date; other distributions are excluded.
IPO OFFER PRICE → YOUR PRICE
MicrosoftMSFT · IPO offer price · $21
What would those shares be worth?
Your starting price is ready. Add an ending share price, then select Calculate.
Starts at the public offering, not a private funding round. Uses the original offer price and the share adjustments documented below.
Formula: amount ÷ $21 × 288 × MSFT ending price.
Microsoft investor FAQ ↗Illustrative paper value; no sale or access to a historical investment is assumed. Excludes fees, taxes, cash dividends, warrants and other distributions; fractional shares assumed. An entered ending price is unverified.
THE STORY & THE EVIDENCE
Microsoft: before the public market.
Microsoft’s venture-backed ownership and preferred conversion are documented in its 1986 prospectus. The calculator starts at its $21 IPO because a reliable cash subscription price is not established here.
IPO4 sourced milestones1 documented share scenarios
- Formation
- Capitalization snapshot
Pre-IPO preferred capitalization
500,000 preferred shares were outstanding; the IPO conversion produced 1,000,000 common shares. A liquidation or redemption value is not automatically the original investment price.
- IPO
Public offering
$21
Microsoft’s initial offer price was $21 per share.
- Share basis
Nine subsequent splits
The documented split factors multiply to 288 public shares per original IPO share.
What the records do not establish
- The preferred stock’s $2 redemption value is not treated as a verified cash purchase price. A private return model requires that additional evidence.
- Technology Venture Investors’ ownership does not establish access for an individual investor; dividends and distributions are excluded.
Research reviewed 2026-09-24. Selected public records, not a complete private cap table. An undisclosed price is left unknown.
Open this company’s sourced data (JSON) ↗
Source documents & filing locations
Microsoft 1986 IPO prospectus · archival copy ↗
Capitalization, preferred-stock conversion, principal shareholders and financial statements. This is a copy of the company prospectus, not editorial price data.
Microsoft investor FAQ ↗
March 13, 1986 IPO at $21; stock-split table with post-split closing dates.
Microsoft corporate timeline ↗
June 25, 1981 incorporation and March 13, 1986 public listing.