Big Tech has come a long way from where it started and continues to grow and get stronger and smarter. The 5 major tech companies, Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft hold a lot of power and influence in our society. These big tech companies control the world of software, electronics, and everything that has to do with technology. All companies have one main goal in mind, to make money. Let’s dig deeper into these companies and see what they are doing to make them so successful and powerful.

One of the biggest companies in the world is Apple. Apple was founded on April 1, 1976, by college dropouts Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Apple has brought us computers, phones, Ipads, watches, etc. Apple broke two records the first being the first publicly traded U.S. company to be valued at $1 trillion in 2018 then in 2020 they hit a second record of the first U.S. company to hit $2 trillion. The competition of all the big companies has only made Apple grow even more and invent newer and better products. With the great following that Apple has created many people are so loyal to the company that they will only purchase Apple products. 

Google is another major company with a lot of power. Every time we are trying to find out who a character is in a show or how to make brownies or the answer to a math problem we google it to find out and google provides us with our answers. In order to type an essay, we use google docs or if we are sharing a presentation we use google slides. Students even use google classroom to turn in homework assignments or communicate with teachers. Google is well-known and used every day. Google is a search engine that was developed by Sergey Brin and Larry Page in 1996. There are over 80 products and services that Google is responsible for.

Amazon is a very well-known and major company used throughout the world. Amazon provides a streaming service, online retailing, and whole food stores. Amazon was founded on July 5, 1994, by founder Jeff Bezos the company originally was a website that only sold books. This company has grown and expanded so much that many have complained it has made too much money. Over the pandemic Amazon’s revenue skyrocketed while people were home and couldn’t go shopping or go to the grocery store; they could just order whatever they wanted and get it fast. They were one of the first to get stocked up on toilet paper, hand sanitizer, soap, and everything you couldn’t find in stores in the midst of the pandemic. Everything has moved online shopping, getting groceries, even watching shows and movies. All of which Amazon has and provides for their customers. They are reliable with fast shipping and providing the right products which is why they are so profitable and part of the Big 5.

Facebook hasn’t been around as long as the rest but continues to keep up. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerburg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes students of Harvard University. Facebook is a social networking company. Like many other forms of social media, users are able to post, like, and share pictures or videos of all kinds. The company is worth $0.93 trillion. In order to make money because Facebook is free to download, they make all their money from selling ads that you see while scrolling through posts. Facebook owns 78 companies including Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus which are also worth 2 billion dollars. Facebook continues to grow and expand and take their loyal users to all their new and old services.

Microsoft is the last of the Big 5. Microsoft is a global vendor of computer software; hardware for computers, mobile, and gaming systems, and cloud services. Through Microsoft, you can use email, Microsoft word, Microsoft Windows, etc. The company was founded on April 4, 1975, by childhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen. The computer software grew into a major corporation that turned into a worldwide known tech company. The company is also in the trillions as it has capped over $2 trillion. People help companies like this grow by using them and getting stocks from the company Microsoft’s stocks are bought every day. Bill Gates even became the youngest billionaire by his thirties. Facebook like the others won’t stop growing and expanding into new areas to increase revenue.

These companies, the Big 5, have so much power in our lives we see them all around us, our phones and computers without them we wouldn’t have the technology. Most of these companies are worth trillions of dollars and only continue to grow. With the growth, they will expand and become even better and more powerful creating a smarter future.