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Doesn't FAANG, by definition, not include Microsoft?

In europe I have mostly heard of "GAFA" as an acronym for large tech companies.

I believe FAANG is a term coming from the financial world about high-performing tech stocks in the '10s, and thus included Netflix but dropped Microsoft as it was doing badly in that time period.

I always thought it odd that Netflix made the cut into that acronym but Microsoft did not. But I think people colloquially add Microsoft to that mix even if it isn’t literally in the acronym.

My pet theory is that FAANG simply sounds cooler than any anagram of FAAGM. FAMAG maybe?

Or maybe it’s because MS is seen as uncool. A bit like IBM.

Fango is “mud” in Spanish. I guess that’s the same reason behind the BRIC acronym. Easy to remember and thus viral.

Netflix doesn't quite belong with the others but FAAG is a more problematic acronym and FAAMG isn't pronounceable.

I've also seen GANDALF (google amazon netflix dropbox amazon linkedin facebook), but dropbox probably doesn't belong in that list. There's plenty of backronyms, but one ends up just hitting critical mass.

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