VMware, Inc. is an American company that provides cloud and virtualization software and services,[2][3][4] and claims to be the first to commercially successfully virtualize the x86 architecture.[5] Founded in 1998, VMware is based in Palo Alto, California. In 2004 it was acquired by and became a subsidiary of EMC Corporation, then on August 14, 2007, EMC sold 15% of the company in a New York Stock Exchange IPO. The company trades under the symbol VMW.[