Microsoft company's shares reach its highest value since December 1999. In 2018, Microsoft surpassed Apple as the most valuable publicly traded company in the world after being dethroned by the tech giant in 2010. Childhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen sought to make a business utilizing their shared skills in computer programming. In 1972 they founded their first company, named Traf-O-Data, which sold a rudimentary computer to track and analyze automobile traffic data. While Gates enrolled at Harvard, Allen pursued a degree in computer science at Washington State University, though he later dropped out of school to work at Honeywell.
University of Waterloo Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business to Waterloo in October 2005, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates stated, "Most years, we hire more students out of Waterloo than any university in the world, typically 50 or even more". University of Waterloo Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business (The Conrad School) is part of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Located in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, the Centre was developed to support and expand Waterloo's culture of entrepreneurship through four key initiatives: The Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) program; professional development programs; research; and undergraduate-level activities.