Microsoft’s 50-year journey from a scrappy startup to a global tech titan reads like a saga of bold gambles, visionary pivots, and lessons etched in both triumph and miscalculation. What began as a modest operation in Albuquerque, New Mexico—founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen—has grown into an empire that, in 2024, generated a net profit of $88 billion on sales of $245 billion. With a market valuation hovering near $3,000 billion and cumulative profits since 2002 approaching $640 billion...