MSFT · CIK 789019
What Microsoft Corporation told the SEC could break it.
Microsoft's largest discrete exposure is a tax dispute: the IRS has proposed adjustments of $28.9 billion plus penalties and interest, and final resolution could differ from the amounts it has recorded and hit results in the period decided. It also flags shifting U.S. trade and technology policy — tariffs and AI export controls such as the AI Diffusion Rule — which could raise operational costs, create product-continuity uncertainty, and push international partners and customers toward sovereignty initiatives. And on the supply side, it notes that few qualified suppliers exist for certain server and device components, so disruptions there could impair its datacenter operations and device manufacturing.
3 self-disclosed vulnerabilities, pulled from its own filings — each in the company’s words, with the source. This is the risk register almost nobody reads.
In its own words
What could break it.
Litigation
- IRS proposed tax adjustments of $28.9 billion plus penalties and interesthigh
Microsoft faces IRS proposed tax adjustments of $28.9 billion plus penalties and interest; final resolution may differ from recorded amounts and adversely affect results in the period determined.
“$28.9 billion plus penalties and interest. The final resolution of the proposed adjustments, and other audits or litigation, may differ from the amounts recorded in our consolidated financial statements and adversely affect our results of operations in the period or periods in which that determination is made.”
SEC filing →As of 2025
Regulatory & policy
- U.S. tariffs and AI export controls (AI Diffusion Rule)medium
Shifting U.S. tariff and AI export-control policy — Microsoft names the AI Diffusion Rule — could raise operational costs, create product-continuity uncertainty, and accelerate sovereignty initiatives among international partners and customers.
“U.S. tariff and shifting AI export controls policies, like the AI Diffusion Rule, could increase operational costs, create uncertainty in the continuity of our products, and accelerate sovereignty initiatives among international partners and customers.”
Supplier concentration
- few qualified suppliers for server and device componentsmedium
Microsoft discloses that few qualified suppliers exist for certain server and device components; disruptions at these suppliers could impair datacenter operations and device manufacturing.
“There are few qualified suppliers for certain components of our servers and devices. Extended or unforeseen disruptions at these suppliers could impact our ability to operate our datacenters and manufacture devices on time to meet consumer demand.”
SEC filing →As of 2025
The hidden graph
Who it depends on, and who depends on it.
Relationships surfaced from filings — including ones disclosed by the other side, which is how the non-obvious ones come to light.
Its customers
Bread Financial Holdings, Inc.
“these relationships include (but are not limited to): Amazon Web Services and Microsoft for our cloud infrastructure, and Fiserv for our credit card processing services”
Cited →“We depend on third-party cloud service providers, primarily Amazon Web Services (“AWS”) and Microsoft Azure, to operate and scale our technology platforms and support critical business functions.”
Cited →“We outsource substantially all of the infrastructure relating to our cloud offerings to cloud service providers, such as Azure, Microsoft.”
Cited →“Additionally, we host customer data within Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure data centers located in the United States.”
Cited →“Purchases from Microsoft and TD Synnex accounted for approximately 32% and 12%, respectively, of our aggregate purchases in 2025.”
Cited →“In addition, we serve our customers and manage certain critical internal processes using a third-party data center hosting facility located in the United States and other third-party services, including AWS, Azure, Google, and other cloud services.”
Cited →“We rely on third-party services such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Microsoft (Azure), and other cloud providers such as object storage providers, that facilitate our platform.”
Cited →“Products manufactured by Microsoft Corporation, HP Inc., and Dell Inc. represented approximately 16%, 13%, and 12%, respectively, of our total product purchases in 2025.”
Cited →“We rely on third-party providers, including Microsoft Azure, for computing infrastructure, network connectivity, and other technology-related services needed to deliver our Solution.”
Cited →“For example, we depend on transaction processing services from Accenture, computer chips and microprocessors from Intel and operating systems from Microsoft.”
Cited →“(AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Computing Services for a significant amount of our technology products and services, as well as the dependence of many of our third-party service providers on these platforms, the stability and availability of these platforms is critical to our business.”
Cited →“Our platform and solutions depend on third-party cloud service providers for computing, storage, networking, and data management infrastructure. We currently use Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services and may also utilize other cloud providers for hosting, content delivery, analytics, and AI services.”
Cited →
Its suppliers
“Meta Platforms and Microsoft, two of our cloud end customers, each accounted for more than 10% of our total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2023, and December 31, 2022.”
Cited →Constellation Energy Corporation
“The restart is supported by a 20-year PPA with Microsoft to purchase the output generated from the renewed plant.”
Cited →“Microsoft Teams, or if problems arise with our relationships with providers of mobile operating systems, such as those of Apple Inc. or Alphabet Inc., our future growth and our results of operations could suffer.”
Cited →
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