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Cisco replaces Microsoft as world's most valuable company
REUTERS

SAN FRANCISCO, MARCH 25: Cisco Systems Inc, the biggest maker of equipment that powers the Internet, on Friday closed with a higher stock market value than Microsoft Corp, making it the most valuable company in the world.

Cisco ended the day with a market capitalisation of $ 579.2 billion (around Rs 25,25,312 crore), slightly ahead of Microsoft's $ 578.2 billion (around Rs 25,20,952 crore). Shares of Cisco closed up 1-9/16 at a record 79-3/8 while Microsoft eased 3/16 to 111-11/16. Both stocks trade on the Nasdaq.

Cisco stock has continued to climb steadily through the year, gaining one-third in value. Shares of computer software giant Microsoft -- which topped the market cap chart for a long time -- have languished amid concerns over the government's pending anti-trust case, easing 10 per cent from its peak. Some analysts see Microsoft being hampered by the terms of any upcoming settlement, and are starting to make Cisco their core holding among large capitalisation technology stocks.

Cisco overtaking Microsoft "certainly validates the networked economy that Cisco is revolutionising," said Brian Goodstadt, an analyst with the Standard & Poor Equity Group.

Microsoft, while still a strong generator of corporate profits, generates much of its income from desktop applications and operating systems. While the Internet has boosted demand for Microsoft's products, Cisco, whose routers carry most of the traffic running over the network, is seen as a bigger beneficiary of its growth and its earnings gains have far outpaced Microsoft in recent quarters.

Quite possibly, Cisco Systems, the biggest maker of equipment that powers the Internet, will become for the Internet what Microsoft Corp, the biggest software company, was for the personal computer.

Judging by Cisco's market capitalisation, investors seem to believe that Cisco could become the technology standard bearer for Internet hardware. Microsoft, which was founded in 1975 and went public 11 years later, took 24 years to become the company investors value the most, but occupied that spot for less than one year. Analysts have said Cisco, which was founded in 1984 and went public in 1986, will likely remain top dog for much longer and has a shot at becoming the first firm ever to be worth $1 trillion.

Here's a brief look back at the history of San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco, which makes gear that carries 80 per cent of Internet traffic, and is known for its fast-paced culture, millionaire secretaries and long hours for workers.

It was started by a pair of then-married Stanford professors, Leonard Bosack and Sandra Lerner. Bosack developed technology that would connect his computer lab's network with his wife's in the graduate school of business. The two recognised there was a huge market for these so-called routers, so they quit Stanford, mortgaged their house and started Cisco in 1984. Their first product emerged in 1986.

By 1987, it had 10 employees and had given away its first promotional coffee mug. When the firm was founded in 1984, there were a mere 1,000 host computers on the Internet. It built itself into a powerhouse by acquiring small companies -- more than 45 since its first in 1993 -- and has increased its appetite for buying the technology or engineering talent it needs.

For its fiscal year ended July 31, 1999, Cisco had sales of $ 12.2 billion and 26,140 workers. That's a far cry from the $1.5 million it had in 1987 and the $ 28 million in 1989.

John Morgridge, now the company's chairman and its first president and chief executive, was brought on board in 1988. In 1990, Morgridge fired Lerner, and Bosack quit. They later sold their stock for about $200 million.

John Chambers, who came to Cisco as head of sales fromstints at International Business Machines Corp and Wang, was promoted to president and chief executive from executive vice president in 1995. Don Listwin, considered Cisco's No 2 executive, now holds the EVP post at Cisco.

Other top executives include Gary Daichendt, head of worldwide sales and operations, Judy Estrin, chief technology officer, and Larry Carter, chief financial officer.

Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.

思科取代微软成为世界上最有价值的公司

路透旧金山3月25日电：最大的互联网设备制造商 $思科(CSCO)$ 系统公司周五收盘时的股票市值高于 $微软(MSFT)$ 公司，成为世界上最有价值的公司。

思科收盘时市值为5792亿美元（约25,25,312克若卢比），略高于微软的5782亿美元（约25,20,952克若卢比）。思科股价收盘上涨1-9/16，创下历史新高79-3/8微软股价下跌3/16，至111-11/16。这两只股票都在纳斯达克交易。

思科股价今年继续稳步攀升，市值上涨了三分之一。由于对政府未决反垄断案的担忧，计算机软件巨头微软的股价长期位居市值榜首，从峰值下跌了10%。一些分析师认为，微软将受到即将到来的任何和解条款的阻碍，并开始将思科作为大盘股中的核心持股。

思科超越微软“肯定验证了思科正在彻底改变的网络经济，”标准普尔股权集团分析师布莱恩·古德斯塔特说。

微软虽然仍是企业利润的强劲来源，但其大部分收入来自桌面应用程序和操作系统。尽管互联网提振了对微软产品的需求，但思科被视为其增长的更大受益者，其最近几个季度的盈利增长远远超过了微软。思科的路由器承载了网络上的大部分流量。

很有可能，为互联网提供动力的最大设备制造商思科系统公司对互联网的影响将成为最大的软件公司微软公司对个人电脑的影响。

从思科的市值来看，投资者似乎认为思科可以成为互联网硬件的技术旗手。微软成立于1975年，11年后上市，花了24年时间成为投资者最看重的公司，但占据这一位置不到一年。分析师表示，思科成立于1984年，1986年上市，可能会在更长时间内保持领先地位，并有机会成为有史以来第一家价值1万亿美元的公司。

以下是对总部位于加州圣何塞的思科公司历史的简要回顾，该公司生产承载80%互联网流量的设备，以其快节奏的文化、百万富翁秘书和员工长时间工作而闻名。

这家公司是由当时已婚的斯坦福大学教授莱昂纳德·博萨克和桑德拉·勒纳创办的。博萨克开发了一种技术，可以将他的计算机实验室和他妻子在商学院的网络连接起来。两人认识到这些所谓的路由器有巨大的市场，所以他们离开斯坦福，抵押了房子，并于1984年创办了思科。他们的第一个产品出现在1986年。

到1987年，该公司有10名员工，并赠送了第一个促销咖啡杯。1984年该公司成立时，互联网上只有1000台主机。它通过收购小公司——自1993年第一家以来超过45家——使自己成为一个强国，并增加了购买所需技术或工程人才的兴趣。

在截至1999年7月31日的财政年度，思科的销售额为122亿美元，员工人数为26140人。这与1987年的150万美元和1989年的2800万美元相去甚远。

约翰·莫格里奇现在是公司的董事长，也是第一任总裁兼首席执行官，他于1988年加入公司。1990年，莫格里奇解雇了勒纳，博萨克辞职了。他们后来以大约2亿美元的价格出售了他们的股票。

约翰·钱伯斯和王从国际商用机器公司（International Business Machines Corp.）的销售主管一职跳槽到思科。1995年，他从执行副总裁晋升为总裁兼首席执行官。唐·利斯特温被认为是思科的第二号高管，现在在思科担任副总裁一职。

其他高管包括全球销售和运营主管加里·戴亨特、首席技术官朱迪·埃斯特林和首席财务官拉里·卡特。

$微软(MSFT)$ $苹果(AAPL)$ $GraniteShares 2x Long NVDA Daily ETF(NVDL)$