Is GitHub a subsidiary of Microsoft?

Yes, GitHub is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation. It was acquired in October 2018 for $7.5 billion and operates with significant autonomy under Microsoft's umbrella.

Is GitHub publicly traded?

GitHub itself is not publicly traded. However, parent company Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is publicly traded. GitHub was a private company prior to the Microsoft acquisition.

When did Microsoft acquire GitHub?

Microsoft completed its acquisition of GitHub in October 2018 for $7.5 billion in an all-stock transaction. The deal was announced in June 2018.

GitHub was founded in 2008 by Tom Preston-Werner, Chris Wanstrath, PJ Hyett, and Scott Chacon. Chris Wanstrath served as CEO until the Microsoft acquisition.

How many developers use GitHub?

As of 2025, GitHub has over 150 million registered developers and hosts more than 420 million repositories, making it the world's largest source code hosting platform. A new developer joins GitHub every second according to the Octoverse report.

Technology & Software

Who Owns GitHub?

GitHub is owned by Microsoft Corporation, a publicly traded American multinational technology company. Microsoft acquired GitHub in October 2018 for $7.5 billion. GitHub is headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA.

Parent Company

Microsoft Corporation

Acquired

2018

Status

Publicly Traded

Headquarters

San Francisco, California, USA

GitHub Timeline

1975

Microsoft Corporation

Parent company established in Redmond, Washington, USA

Company Founded

2008

GitHub

Founded by Tom Preston-Werner, Chris Wanstrath, PJ Hyett, Scott Chacon

Founded

2018

Acquired by Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft Corporation acquired GitHub

Acquired

mid rangemass marketGlobalall-agesdigital sustainabilityopen source supportcarbon neutral clouddeveloper communityresponsible aiOfficial Website

Who Owns GitHub?

Parent Company: Microsoft Corporation
Ownership Type: Subsidiary
Acquisition Year: 2018
Company Type: Publicly Traded
Stock Ticker: NASDAQ: MSFT

Brand	Parent Company	Ownership Type
GitHub	Microsoft Corporation	Subsidiary

History of GitHub

Founded: 2008
Founders: Tom Preston-Werner, Chris Wanstrath, PJ Hyett, Scott Chacon
Acquired by Microsoft Corporation: 2018

GitHub was founded in 2008 by Tom Preston-Werner, Chris Wanstrath, PJ Hyett, and Scott Chacon. The platform launched as a hosting service for Git repositories, providing developers with tools for collaborative software development and version control.

The platform grew rapidly, becoming the de facto standard for open-source software hosting. By 2012, GitHub had surpassed 1 million users and was hosting millions of code repositories. GitHub raised $350 million in venture capital and reached a valuation of $2 billion by 2015.

In June 2018, Microsoft announced its intent to acquire GitHub for $7.5 billion. The deal closed in October 2018. Under Microsoft's ownership, GitHub has grown to over 150 million developers and hosts more than 420 million repositories as of 2025. According to GitHub's Octoverse report, a new developer joins GitHub every second, and TypeScript has surpassed JavaScript as the most popular language on the platform.

The platform launched GitHub Copilot, an AI-powered coding assistant, in 2021. Copilot has since grown to over 26 million users as of 2025, making it one of the first and most commercially successful AI developer tools. Microsoft reported that GitHub Copilot has become a significant revenue contributor, with some estimates placing its annualized revenue run rate at approximately $2 billion by 2025.

GitHub also broadened the platform beyond repository hosting. GitHub Actions made automated building, testing, and deployment part of the repository workflow, while Codespaces supplied browser-accessible development environments. Dependabot, secret scanning, and code scanning moved security checks closer to software creation. These services gave GitHub additional paid enterprise products and made the platform more closely tied to daily development operations, not only long-term code storage.

Microsoft appointed Thomas Dohmke as GitHub chief executive in 2021, and he served until 2025. After his departure, Microsoft placed GitHub under its CoreAI organization rather than naming another independent chief executive. The brand and service remained in operation, but the reporting change indicated closer organizational alignment with Microsoft's developer and artificial intelligence businesses.

About Microsoft Corporation

What does Microsoft own?
Microsoft owns a portfolio of technology brands including Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, Windows, Xbox, LinkedIn (acquired 2016 for $26.2 billion), GitHub (acquired 2018 for $7.5 billion), and Activision Blizzard gaming franchises including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush (acquired 2023 for $69 billion). The company also owns Minecraft, Skype, Bing, Surface, and Dynamics 365.

Is Microsoft publicly traded?
Yes, Microsoft Corporation is publicly traded on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol MSFT. The company has been publicly traded since its IPO on March 13, 1986, at $21 per share. It is consistently one of the world's most valuable companies by market capitalization, with a market cap exceeding $3 trillion as of mid-2026.

Who founded Microsoft?
Microsoft was founded on April 4, 1975, by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The childhood friends developed a version of the BASIC programming language for the Altair 8800 microcomputer. Gates served as CEO until 2000, when Steve Ballmer succeeded him. Satya Nadella became CEO in February 2014.

Where is Microsoft headquartered?
Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA. The company moved to Redmond in 1986 after relocating from Bellevue, Washington, where it had been based since 1979. The Redmond campus spans over 500 acres and houses executive leadership, research facilities, and key business units.

How many brands does Microsoft own?
Microsoft owns approximately 15 major brands including Microsoft 365, Azure, Windows, Xbox, LinkedIn, GitHub, Microsoft Teams, Copilot, Dynamics 365, Surface, Minecraft, Skype, Bing, and Activision Blizzard franchises (Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Candy Crush). These brands serve enterprise, consumer, and developer markets globally.

Who owns Microsoft?
Microsoft is publicly owned with no controlling shareholder. Ownership is distributed among institutional investors including Vanguard Group, BlackRock, and State Street Global Advisors. Bill Gates has significantly reduced his stake through philanthropy and share sales. CEO Satya Nadella holds a meaningful ownership position through equity compensation.

What is Microsoft's revenue?
Microsoft reported revenue of $331.8 billion for fiscal year 2026 (ended June 30, 2026), up 18% from $281.7 billion in FY2025. Operating income was $155.2 billion, up 21%. Net income was $133.7 billion, up 31% on a GAAP basis. Microsoft Cloud revenue surpassed $214 billion, growing 27%.

What is the Microsoft OpenAI partnership?
Microsoft has invested approximately $13 billion in OpenAI since 2019, making it OpenAI's exclusive cloud provider through Azure. The partnership integrates OpenAI's GPT models into Microsoft products through the Copilot AI assistant. In FY2026, Microsoft's investment in OpenAI generated $4.96 billion in net gains, reversing $3.62 billion in losses from FY2025. Regulators in the EU and UK have examined whether the relationship constitutes a de facto merger.

Founded: 1975
Headquarters: Redmond, Washington, USA
Company Type: Publicly Traded
Stock: NASDAQ: MSFT
Revenue: $331.8 billion (FY2026, year ended June 30, 2026)
Employees: Approximately 223,000

Visit Microsoft Corporation website

View full company profile for Microsoft Corporation

Where Is GitHub Made / Based?

Headquarters: San Francisco, California, USA
Manufacturing / Operations: United States, Global cloud infrastructure

GitHub Categories & Tags

Software Development Version Control Developer Tools Open Source Microsoft American Brand

GitHub Sustainability & Ethics

As a cloud-based software platform, GitHub's sustainability profile focuses on data center operations and energy consumption. Microsoft has committed to achieving carbon negativity by 2030 and zero waste by 2030, with GitHub benefiting from these corporate sustainability initiatives.

GitHub's infrastructure operates on Microsoft Azure, which uses renewable energy sources. The platform does not involve manufacturing or physical products, reducing environmental impact compared to hardware-based businesses.

GitHub does not hold cruelty-free or vegan certifications, as these certifications are not applicable to software platforms.

GitHub has faced ethical questions regarding GitHub Copilot, an AI coding assistant trained on publicly available code. Concerns have been raised about code licensing, copyright, and whether developers whose code was used for training should receive compensation. GitHub has addressed these concerns through licensing agreements and transparency initiatives.

Awards & Recognition

GitHub has received recognition for innovation and developer impact:

G2 Leader: GitHub has been recognized as a leader in version control and source code management categories on G2, based on user reviews and market presence.
Gartner Magic Quadrant: GitHub has been positioned in the Leaders quadrant for Application Release Orchestration platforms.
Developer Choice Awards: GitHub has received multiple awards from developer communities and publications for innovation and developer experience.
Microsoft Integration: GitHub Copilot received recognition as one of the first commercially successful AI developer tools, growing to 26+ million users by 2025.

GitHub Recalls & Controversies

GitHub Copilot Copyright Concerns (2021-2023): GitHub Copilot, trained on publicly available code from GitHub repositories, raised questions about copyright infringement and fair use. Lawsuits were filed by developers and organizations alleging that Copilot violated copyright by training on code without explicit permission. As of March 2026, litigation remains ongoing, with GitHub maintaining that the use constitutes fair use under copyright law.

Data Privacy and Security: GitHub has faced scrutiny regarding data privacy, particularly regarding user data handling and security practices. The platform has implemented additional security features and transparency reports in response.

Open Source Community Concerns: Some open-source developers have expressed concerns about GitHub's dominance and Microsoft's influence on open-source development. These concerns relate to platform dependency and potential conflicts of interest.

AI Training Data Transparency: Questions have been raised about transparency regarding which repositories were used to train GitHub Copilot and whether developers were adequately informed.

GitHub Ownership: Pros & Cons

Advantages

+Massive infrastructure investment from Microsoft's cloud resources
+Development of AI-powered tools like GitHub Copilot
+Financial stability enabling free tier for individual developers
+Integration with Microsoft's developer ecosystem (VS Code, Azure)
+Continued commitment to open-source community

Considerations

-Some developers initially concerned about Microsoft's open-source track record
-Platform dependency on a single technology corporation
-Potential conflicts of interest with competing developer platforms
-Data privacy considerations under corporate ownership
-AI features (Copilot) raised questions about code licensing

Frequently Asked Questions About GitHub

Sources & Further Reading

Competitors to GitHub

These competing brands operate in the same categories and provide similar products or services. Compare key attributes to understand market positioning and competitive landscape.

Brand	Parent Company	Country	Founded	Market Position	Primary Market	Gender Target
LinkedInSister Brand	Microsoft	USA	2002	Mass market	Global	All-ages
Microsoft TeamsSister Brand	Microsoft	United States	2017	Mass market	Global	All Genders
WindowsSister Brand	Microsoft	USA	1985	Premium	Global	All-ages
XboxSister Brand	Microsoft	USA	2001	Premium	Global	All Genders