How Microsoft Excel Conquered Corporate America

Odd Lots – Bloomberg
Episode Date: December 7, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Bloomberg’s Sarah Holder explores the unlikely journey of Microsoft Excel from a humble business tool to an essential part of the global corporate ecosystem. The conversation, featuring Max Chafkin (BusinessWeek writer and co-host, Everybody’s Business), dives into how Excel transcended its spreadsheet origins to become a cultural touchstone, its impact on both workplace dynamics and capitalism, and its resilience in the face of new technologies like Google Sheets and AI. The show highlights the fervor of Excel enthusiasts and investigates why, despite advancements in technology, Excel remains irreplaceable for so many.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Excel as an Esport and Cultural Touchstone

• The episode opens at the Excel World Championship, complete with pro-style entrances and live commentary ([02:15]).

• Excel competitions have evolved from financial modeling contests to accessible esports events, now featuring games modeled within spreadsheets ([03:18]).

  “It’s the XL world championship. Who is going to win?”
  — Max Chafkin ([02:51])

• Even for laypeople, watching Excel ‘wizards’ race through functions can be oddly thrilling ([04:47]).

2. Ubiquity and Emotional Resonance of Excel

• Excel is used by about 500 million people, from CFOs to social media influencers to college students ([08:31]).

• Steve Ballmer, former Microsoft CEO, tracks almost every aspect of his life in Excel ([09:05]–[09:43]).

• Public perceptions of Excel are mixed: it’s a symbol of corporate drudgery—and also an expression of skill and creativity.

  “Excel just symbolizes drudgery, right? …It’s every workplace movie stereotype.”
  — Bloomberg Narrator ([06:47])

  “If you get laid off, like, guaranteed you were laid off because of a cell on an Excel spreadsheet.”
  — Max Chafkin ([07:05])

  “Like, we’re all just numbers in an Excel file at the end of the day.”
  — Sarah Holder ([07:34])

  “This software is insanely powerful…yet what you’re doing is getting around the fact that you have to use the software in the first place.”
  — Max Chafkin, on people watching Wall-E inside Excel ([08:13])

3. Origins: From VisiCalc to Excel Dominance

• The spreadsheet revolution began with VisiCalc in the 1970s, invented by Dan Bricklin ([10:19]).

• Microsoft’s vision: “A computer on every desk and in every home running Microsoft software” ([11:08]).

• Excel began as “Project Odyssey” in 1983, inspired by—and improved upon—earlier programs like VisiCalc and Lotus ([11:48]).

• Excel’s leap to dominance hinged on bundling with Office and tying software deeply to workplace infrastructure.

  “If you’re trying to understand, like, how did Microsoft sort of use Excel to, to propel itself to this dominance? Like in one word, it’s bundling.”
  — Max Chafkin ([13:15])

• Bundling made switching away from Excel (and Office) almost impossible for enterprises ([13:42]).

  “The CIO just looked at his CEO like, you sweet summer child. That, that is not a thing.”
  — Bloomberg Narrator ([14:11])

4. Challengers to Excel: Google Sheets and AI

• Google Sheets has made inroads, especially in education, but in the workplace, Excel is still king ([17:44]).

• Entrenched workplace habits and infrastructure have stymied any mass migration.

  “…when you hit the workforce you get assigned your Office license.”
  — Sarah Holder ([18:40])

AI as a Threat—or Not?

• Theoretically, AI could process data as easily as a spreadsheet, but large language models are poor at reliable computation ([18:56]).

• Most “AI for spreadsheets” tools are either Excel copycats or act as assistants on top of Excel files ([19:30]).

• Fundamental weakness: AI cannot explain its logic the way a spreadsheet can.

  “AI models are really bad at, like, at telling you why they arrived at a given answer. And that is a thing that spreadsheets are awesome at.”
  — Max Chafkin ([19:58])

• Even “AI assistants” mainly serve to make users better at Excel, not replace it.

5. The Enduring Appeal and Future of Excel

• Excel persists because its fundamental interface—a table of numbers—satisfies an ancient and durable need ([20:58]).

  “Maybe there is something fundamental to a spreadsheet that, like, we wouldn’t actually want to process data in another way.”
  — Max Chafkin ([20:58])

• Microsoft isn’t seeking to build an entirely new “AI spreadsheet”; their aim is to make assistant features (Copilot) help users reach world-champion proficiency ([21:14], [22:00]).

  “…with the help of Copilot, [you] can do the same kinds of advanced modeling that [the champions] do. I don’t think it’s quite there yet, but that’s the promise.”
  — Max Chafkin ([22:00])

Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• Steve Ballmer’s Obsession:

  “Most people think it’s pretty weird. I keep a spreadsheet of how I spend my hours.”
  — Steve Ballmer ([08:52]) “His entire brain is just a series of endless spreadsheets. That’s the way he thinks.”
  — Bloomberg Narrator ([09:35])

• Pop Culture Hackery:

  “The most popular [Excel Reddit] post of all time is somebody explaining how to watch Wall E inside of Microsoft Excel in order to trick their company’s workplace software into thinking they’re using Excel when they’re in fact watching a movie.”
  — Max Chafkin ([07:38])

• Market Entrenchment:

  “There’s no Microsoft, …almost $4 trillion market cap company that like dominates the business software market without Excel.”
  — Max Chafkin ([14:32])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Excel Esports & World Championship: [02:15] – [04:47]
• Public Love/Hate for Excel: [05:59] – [08:31]
• Steve Ballmer’s Spreadsheet Usage: [08:52] – [09:54]
• History: VisiCalc to Excel: [10:19] – [13:05]
• Bundling and Market Dominance: [13:05] – [14:32]
• Challenges: Google Sheets & AI: [17:18] – [20:38]
• The Spreadsheet Endures: [20:50] – [22:00]

Conclusion

This Odd Lots episode reveals why Excel is not only a corporate staple but has become a symbol of the modern workplace—and, by extension, modern capitalism. Born from the spreadsheet experiments of the 1970s, Excel conquered the corporate world through technical improvements, clever integration with other Microsoft products, and an uncanny knack for embedding itself in the fabric of business operations. Despite the rise of competitors and AI, Excel’s combination of transparency, reliability, and universality seems likely to keep it dominant for years to come—making both workplace drudgery and wizard-level expertise possible for nearly half a billion users worldwide.