https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/30/17408254/microsoft-google-alphabet-market-cap-value > Microsoft has passed Google (Alphabet) in market valuation for the first time in three years. Microsoft is now valued at $753 billion, while Alphabet (Google’s parent company) is valued at $739 billion. It makes Microsoft the third most valuable company in the world, behind Apple and Amazon. This will likely only be temporary, though. Google originally passed Microsoft back in 2012, and the pair have traded positions a number of times in recent years. Still, it shows how much Microsoft has improved its stock price over the past five years since former CEO Steve Ballmer announced his plans to retire as Microsoft CEO. > Microsoft’s stock price has more than doubled since CEO Satya Nadella took over four years ago. Nadella has refocused Microsoft on cross-platform technologies, the cloud, artificial intelligence, and wants to secure the future of quantum computing and mixed reality headsets. Nadella has axed Microsoft’s failed Windows Phone efforts, and the company has generally moved away from the concept of having Windows at the center of everything it offers.