MS Co-founder Paul Allen Bitter Towards Bill Gates

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Thunderfox

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Bill's portion of the profits for BASIC should certainly have been proportional to his contribution to it, but the bigger question is about Paul Allen's contribution to everything after that. If he was still getting 36% at a point when he was doing substantially more for the company, that would certainly be unfair.

But cry me a river, the guy is still a billionaire. He'll just have to make do with a few less billion than he might have had.
 

blibba

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[citation][nom]Thunderfox[/nom]...the guy is still a billionaire. He'll just have to make do with a few less billion than he might have had.[/citation]

Quite!
 

beayn

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He's complaining because he wasn't doing much of the work and didn't get a bigger share? He should have quit his job and worked full time in the company to maintain his higher share... it's his mistake, not Bill's.
 

Kaiser_25

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Ya both have more money than any of us will ever have...BUT id rather them than some 'Paris Hilton' or 'Britney Spears', these guys at least contributed to our society.
 

atuk

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I agree with thunderfox, and yes he is still a billionair. He has got more than enough to last him his life at the same life style standards he has been enjoying. I would like to read the whole story though.
 

cookoy

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the quotes above don't reflect much bitterness in him. he just tell the stories as there were by his recollection. let the readers do the judging.
 
could someone explain to me why, every time I log into this site, the comment I just entered is forgotten, forcing me to re-type it entirely?

If I'm not mistaken, the time frame evoked is around the time Bill Gates was stealing CPU time from Harvard's mainframe, to program said BASIC, for an amount of more than $4000 (which was, at the time, a sizable sum). He was actually arrested, charged and kicked out of Harvard (he didn't actually drop out).

exacting taskmaster with a business sense or a greedy thief, one may wonder - probably a bit of both.
 

officeguy

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[citation][nom]beayn[/nom]He's complaining because he wasn't doing much of the work and didn't get a bigger share? He should have quit his job and worked full time in the company to maintain his higher share... it's his mistake, not Bill's.[/citation]
You never want to quit your full time job unless it is a sure thing. Maybe he had his doubts. However, if Bill put in the time in like he did in the beginning then I believe he desevered that split. If I remeber correctly, he still put in 12 to 14 hours a day when he had his family. When you say "Microsoft" you automatically think of Bill Gates not Paul Allen!!
 

back_by_demand

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I have no sympathy for Paul allen, he agreed to the concession when the money involved was basically chump-change.

That tells me he had no vision or faith that it would become huge otherwise he would have fought for a higher percentage himself.

Another reason he deserves no sympathy is the fact he is a multi-billionaire, it's hard to feel sorry for someone who earns more money in the time it takes to wipe his ass than the rest of us earn in a year.

Paul Allen's definition of being hard done by is only having 3 yachts, restricting himself to the other 16 bedrooms and making the tough choice between having a swimming pool full of vintage champage or HP printer ink.
 
I already new Bill there was a bit of a jerk and a workaholic. I do think he screwed Allen a bit there but then Allen let himself. You have to remember, Paul Allen also thought Value America was a great idea and ..... well ......
 
G

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Looks like a nice behind the scene's view of how a person becomes a billionare. Being extremely talented, driven, working as hard as you possibly can for long periods of time and pushing everyone around you to succeed as well. Looks like it paid off for Bill.
 

bhaberle

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The above all sounded fair to me. =) At least he didn't pull a Zuckerburg on the guy, provided that the movie the Social Network at least has some truth to it.
 

NuclearShadow

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Why oh why couldn't I have been born as one of their sons? Even Allen's would have been good enough. I could have a easy do almost nothing job at Microsoft right now... instead of my easy do nothing job at *****. I could go home after a hard days of "work" and sleep on a pile of money next to my beautiful geeky girlfriends who love to debate and discuss philosophy
while playing RPGs, and strategy games. Damn you cruel fate! Damn you!
 

Flameout

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[citation][nom]phantomtrooper[/nom]Paul Allen is billionaire. He doesn't need more money. Bill Gates is doing good things with his money, so let him have it.[/citation]
bill gates only donates because he wants good pr. you'd have to be pretty naive to think otherwise
 

NuclearShadow

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[citation][nom]Flameout[/nom]bill gates only donates because he wants good pr. you'd have to be pretty naive to think otherwise[/citation]

Hardly the amount he donated thus far alone exceeds more than any good amount of PR could bring him. Also I highly doubt anyone really goes out and buys any Microsoft products with Bill Gates generosity in mind.
He is very much a decent human being.
 

jalek

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Gates still visits Congress to boost H1B visa levels, complaining about a lack of tech graduates in the US. Then he sends $20 million to India to help get more tech graduates to bring over.

Not many people who can just stop by Congress on an afternoon and have legislation done before he leaves, but that's American government. If you have money, you can never be wrong.
 

shoelessinsight

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Gates was definitely a taskmaster in those first couple of decades at Microsoft. From what I can tell, though, getting married and having a family of his own chilled him out a bit. I just don't think it ever occurred to him before that people might actually have meaningful lives outside of work until he experienced that for himself.

Since that seeming change in his attitude, he also has become one of the greatest philanthropists in the world. I doubt at this point that it has to do with wanting good PR. The money he has invested in his charity exceeds the value of some mega-corporations, and he puts a great deal of his own time and effort into helping others now as well.

Consider also that he is retired now, and isn't selling anything that really needs good PR.

I think he really is a hard working, good person who just didn't have any priorities outside of work before his marriage. If I'm right about that, then I say, "Good job!" to his wife for helping him become the man he is today.
 

hoofhearted

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I am guessing he is more about the attention than the money. Coming out with a book. I never heard of the guy until now (or just don't remember). Then again, I don't even remember Zukerbergs counterpart either.
 
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