Hotmail Turns 30: Microsoft's First Free Email Service Still Technically Works

Executive Briefing

• Founded in 1996 by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith, Hotmail was the first free web-based email service.
• Microsoft acquired Hotmail in late 1996, integrating its 9 million users into the MSN ecosystem.
• Reached peak usage of approximately 130 million users before being rebranded and gradually phased out.
• Surviving accounts now redirect to Outlook, preserving decades of email history and Windows login identity.
• Hotmail's legacy mirrors AOL's: a once-dominant platform reduced to a nostalgic digital relic.