Visio Corporation

In 1989, a group of Aldus Corporation alumni, Jeremy Jaech, Dave Walter, and Ted Johnson, founded a company with a vision for the future of business graphics. Initially incorporated as Axon Corporation, it later became Shapeware Corporation before launching its flagship product, Visio, in 1992. This diagramming software was designed to provide a powerful tool for business and technical users to create professional drawings and diagrams with ease. The company recognized the power of its product's brand, rebranding itself as Visio Corporation in 1995. That same year, Visio launched a version of its software specifically for the new Windows 95 operating system and went public with an IPO under the ticker VSIO. This move solidified its position in the software market. The company continued to innovate, releasing various versions of its popular software. A significant chapter in Visio's story unfolded in early 2000 when Microsoft acquired the company for approximately $1.5 billion in a stock swap. This was Microsoft's largest acquisition at the time. Following the acquisition, Visio became a division within Microsoft, and its diagramming software was integrated into the Microsoft family of products, eventually becoming Microsoft Visio. Co-founder Jeremy Jaech even became a vice president at Microsoft following the deal.