You can learn more about our selection of companies, including how they started and where they are today.
Microsoft’s early history moved from programming languages to the IBM PC operating-system opportunity, then into Windows and Office. Those shifts established the platform pattern that continued through later changes in the business.
The Mrs. Fields story starts with Debbi Fields and one Palo Alto cookie shop. What followed was fast expansion, a distinctive company-owned model, financial pressure, ownership changes, and a long shift toward franchising and licensing.
SpaceX’s history moved from early Falcon 1 failures to orbital launch, NASA cargo and crew transportation, reusable boosters, and a scaled Starlink connectivity business, while Starship became its next major development program.
Starbucks began in Seattle in 1971 as a specialty coffee retailer and later became a global coffeehouse company. Its history includes a pivotal 1987 corporate transition, rapid expansion, strategic resets and a changing international model.
Ford Motor Company grew from a 1903 automobile venture into a global automaker shaped by mass production, labor conflict, product successes and failures, financial restructuring, and an ongoing shift toward electric, hybrid, software, and commercial businesses.
Panasonic began as a small Osaka electrical-device workshop in 1918. Its history spans home appliances, global electronics, major acquisitions, painful restructurings, batteries, software, and a modern holding-company structure.
Mars traces its origin to Frank Mars’s 1911 candy business. Milky Way became the early breakthrough before Forrest Mars Sr. pushed the story into international markets, pet food, M&M’s, and other foods.
Gillette’s story started with a replaceable-blade concept that required both an inventor’s idea and a practical manufacturing solution. The company then faced patent expiry, competition, diversification, and repeated reinvention of its shaving systems.
Kellogg’s expanded beyond its cereal roots through major snack acquisitions, then separated North American cereal from the continuing snacks-led company in 2023 before both successor businesses changed ownership.
FedEx traces its history to Federal Express, founded in 1971 and operating from Memphis in 1973. The story includes the overnight network, international expansion, major acquisitions, structural changes, and the 2026 separation of FedEx Freight.