I can't tell for sure (Wikipedia has no info, and http://www.fundinguniverse.com...

		larsberg on March 17, 2011 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: Entreporn, The Fallacy That Wastes Your Life I can't tell for sure (Wikipedia has no info, and http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Microsoft-C... only talks about their IPO), but it certainly looks like MSFT was bootstrapped when they nailed their big licensing deals. They then IPO'd after 9 years incorporated to get some more cash on hand, presumably.

this article makes it seem like they IPO'd because they were getting close to their 500 shareholder limit.