The company covered
Microsoft Corporation is incorporated in Washington State and headquartered at One Microsoft Way, Redmond, United States. This profile covers the consolidated group, combining software, cloud services, advertising, gaming and devices. Its customers include individuals, businesses and public authorities. Digital services depend on datacenters, electronic equipment, maintenance and construction: behind a licence or cloud query lies a physical operation involving employees and contractors.
From the personal computer to the cloud
Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975 to develop software for the Altair 8800. MS-DOS on the IBM PC in 1981 and Windows in 1985 expanded its role in personal computing. It moved its headquarters to Redmond and went public in 1986. Xbox, launched in 2001, expanded its consumer business; Azure became generally available in 2010 and Office 365 arrived in 2011. Combining licences, subscriptions and infrastructure consumption transformed its commercial relationship with customers.
How it earns revenue
Microsoft sells productivity licences and subscriptions, cloud infrastructure and platforms, advertising, gaming content and services, and devices. Microsoft 365, Azure, Dynamics, Windows, Surface and Xbox are different offerings rather than equivalent legal entities. Some cloud revenue depends on capacity and service consumption; other offerings use per-user subscriptions or licence contracts. The group combines direct selling with equipment manufacturers, distributors and partners. This diversity requires commercial metrics, recognised revenue and physical resources to be distinguished.
Subsidiaries and investments with different scopes
LinkedIn, acquired in 2016, and Activision Blizzard, acquired in 2023, form part of the group’s expansion. Their figures must not be added again to consolidated revenue. OpenAI receives different treatment: the 2026 report records an approximately 25% interest on an as-converted basis, accounted for using the equity method. It is an investee and commercial counterparty rather than a fully consolidated subsidiary. Technological collaboration, commercial payments and investment value are not interchangeable measures of Microsoft’s size.
Microsoft Form 10-K fiscal 2026, official Word download · Microsoft company history and milestones
Fiscal 2026 results and workforce
Fiscal 2026 ran from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026. Microsoft reported consolidated revenue of $331,839 million, operating income of $155,237 million and net income of $133,749 million under US GAAP. These are annual figures, not annualised quarterly results. At year-end it employed approximately 223,000 people on a full-time basis: 121,000 in the United States and 102,000 internationally. This is full-time employee headcount; it does not extend to everyone employed by suppliers in the chain.
A segment change that makes dates essential
Fiscal 2026 was reported under three segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud and More Personal Computing. On 2 September 2026 Microsoft announced two reporting segments from fiscal 2027: Agents and Infra, and Devices and Consumer. A current organisational description should therefore not be applied to historical tables without explanation. Microsoft Cloud is also a commercial grouping included within several revenue categories, not a fourth segment to add to the total. This profile retains the original annual reporting basis and dates the reorganisation.
Microsoft Form 10-K fiscal 2026, official Word download · Microsoft Form 8-K, segment change announced 2 September 2026
Leadership and shareholders
Satya Nadella is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, having become CEO in 2014. Amy Hood is Chief Financial Officer and Brad Smith is Vice Chair and President. Microsoft trades on Nasdaq as MSFT. Its 2026 proxy identifies Vanguard Capital Management and BlackRock among beneficial owners of more than 5%, drawing on regulatory disclosures from different dates. These institutional holdings do not make Microsoft a subsidiary of the investment managers or provide a real-time picture of all voting rights.
Microsoft Annual Report 2026 · Microsoft 2026 Proxy Statement · Microsoft company history and milestones
A global safety programme still developing
The 2025 human rights report describes combined central and local safety management. A centre of excellence established in 2020 covers incident reporting, training, regulatory monitoring, ergonomics and governance. The report describes centrally managed outsourced staffing in 25 countries that historically lacked established programmes. It also states that a plan for comprehensive risk assessments across all regions and business units was still being developed. This documents organisation and expansion of the system rather than completed universal coverage or worldwide ISO 45001 certification.
Microsoft Human Rights Transparency Report, reporting FY2025
A US rate with its period and scope
The public US OHS page reports a recordable incident rate of 0.03 for US operations in calendar 2024, unchanged from 2023. The rate is normalised per 200,000 working hours. It is neither a worldwide 2026 rate nor an absolute accident count. The same page requires external staff to assess risks before starting work and describes an employee-participation safety committee. These preventive mechanisms should be distinguished from the retrospective indicator: their existence alone does not prove effectiveness in every task.
Microsoft United States Occupational Health and Safety, 2024 RIR
Physical controls in datacenters
Microsoft Learn documentation describes early smoke detection, backup power for protection systems and daily walkthrough checks by the Critical Environments team. It also covers leak sensors and training to locate and operate water shutoff valves. Prevention spans construction through decommissioning using safety plans, risk assessment, high-risk activity management and training. Service availability and workplace safety share infrastructure but are different outcomes: preventing an IT interruption does not establish that maintenance exposures have been eliminated.
Microsoft datacenter environmental safeguards and health and safety
Supplier findings and corrective action
The supplier-monitoring appendix in the 2025 human rights report records 58 occupational health and safety findings: 53 closed and five with corrective action plans. Machine safeguarding has 37 findings, with 35 closed and two under plans; emergency preparedness has 65, with 63 closed and two under plans. These are monitoring findings, not accidents, injured workers or a census of every site. Microsoft describes plan validation by third-party auditors or its own teams and deadlines based on severity. Detecting deficiencies and documenting their correction both matter.
Microsoft Human Rights Transparency Report, reporting FY2025
Contractors and reporting channels
In fiscal 2025, Cloud Operations + Innovation piloted onsite human rights audits with suppliers selected by risk. A third party conducted the visits and each audit concluded with a corrective action plan. This was a pilot rather than coverage of the entire supply chain. The Microsoft Integrity Portal accepts anonymous reports and is also available to supplier personnel. The report describes this channel and its non-retaliation policy; a reporting mechanism does not independently establish that every concern is raised and effectively resolved.
Microsoft Human Rights Transparency Report, reporting FY2025
Hardware circularity and automation
The 2026 environmental report, covering fiscal 2025, describes seven Circular Centers and a 92% reuse and recycling rate for decommissioned servers and components. The network tests and recertifies parts for reuse. Direct Recycling is evolving towards robotic disassembly and autonomous material handling; investment in Molg supports non-destructive robotic disassembly. These circularity initiatives have operational relevance. The source does not support a quantified injury reduction or a claim that the entire network is fully robotic.
Microsoft Environmental Sustainability Report 2026, reporting FY2025
Cloud growth and the environmental footprint
Microsoft retains 2030 goals for carbon-negative, water-positive and zero-waste operations. Its 2026 environmental report states that total Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions rose 25% year on year in fiscal 2025. It mainly attributes this to datacenter expansion and pausing the use of certain non-additional, unbundled renewable energy certificates. Targets and efficiency interventions should be read alongside observed results. Environmental improvement does not itself establish better workplace safety.
Microsoft Environmental Sustainability Report 2026, reporting FY2025
Teams and competitive conditions
On 12 September 2025, the European Commission made Microsoft commitments binding to address concerns about tying Teams to productivity suites. These include lower-priced versions without Teams for European Economic Area customers, interoperability and data portability. General commitments last seven years; interoperability and portability provisions last ten. This is an Article 9 commitment decision following a preliminary assessment, rather than a conviction or an occupational safety finding. A monitoring trustee must oversee compliance and mediate disputes.
What can be learned from the case
Sabentis Explora’s editorial interpretation is that Microsoft offers a way to examine how digitalisation shifts and broadens the geography of work: offices, construction, datacenters, external manufacturing and equipment recovery. Useful management connects prior assessment, technical controls, incident reporting and action closure. The US 2024 rate, supplier findings for 2025 and fiscal 2026 accounts answer different questions. Preserving their boundaries supports learning from documented practices without turning technological scale into safety assurance or confusing policy with complete implementation.
Microsoft Human Rights Transparency Report, reporting FY2025 · Microsoft datacenter environmental safeguards and health and safety · Microsoft United States Occupational Health and Safety, 2024 RIR · Microsoft Environmental Sustainability Report 2026, reporting FY2025
Frequently asked questions
Which financial year is used?
The complete year from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026. Revenue is consolidated under US GAAP; subsidiary sales are not added again. [1]
Does Microsoft still have three segments?
Fiscal 2026 used three. From fiscal 2027, the announced structure comprises Agents and Infra, and Devices and Consumer. Comparisons require the reporting version and period to be identified. [1] · [2]
Is 0.03 a worldwide injury rate?
No. The source covers recordable incidents in US operations in calendar 2024, normalised per 200,000 hours. It does not describe the worldwide supply chain or fiscal 2026. [1]
Is OpenAI a consolidated Microsoft subsidiary?
Not under the 2026 accounts. Microsoft reports an equity-method investment and a commercial relationship. That investment differs from subsidiaries included in consolidated revenue. [1]
