Who Invented Hotmail and When It Launched
Hotmail was created by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith, who co-founded the web-based email service in 1995 and launched it publicly in 1996 as one of the first free email platforms accessible through a browser Forbes.
The service introduced the idea of accessing email from any computer with internet access, removing the need for proprietary software and helping popularize the @hotmail.com domain worldwide.
How Hotmail Grew and Was Acquired by Microsoft
Hotmail quickly gained millions of users after launch, and Microsoft acquired the service in 1997 for an estimated $400 million, integrating it into its portfolio and later rebranding it as Outlook.com Business Insider.
The acquisition helped Microsoft strengthen its position in consumer email and online services, while the Hotmail brand remained recognizable for years as users migrated to the newer Outlook platform.
Legacy of the Hotmail Inventors and Modern Email
Sabeer Bhatia went on to build other technology ventures after Hotmail, while the service itself set design and usability standards that influenced modern webmail and enterprise email platforms SEC.
Today, email remains a core communication tool, and the Hotmail era is widely cited as a turning point in how individuals and businesses send, receive, and manage messages online Forbes Advisor.