Does Bill Gates Matter?

The financial investor says "probably not".

As you may know, Bill Gates announced that he will be giving up his day to day activities with Microsoft, though he will remain Chairman. The transition period is two years. Microsoft stock ended up slightly after the announcement in a down NASDAQ market. As you know, the stock is a prediction of the future cash flows to be derived from the stock, discounted based on the perceived stability of such predictions and the alternative sure return (US Treasuries). So the investor is saying that he does not matter financially--or just maybe the company is a bit better off. And of course he does matter. My hope is that he will have the same impact on the lives of the impoverished as has had on the lives of people who can afford a PC. And one day, for his work he will be awarded the Nobel Prize.

I never got to tell you my Bill Gates story in class but there is a lesson. A friend of mine was head of large enterprise and public sector business development for Microsoft in Japan. They had a meeting with the Prime Minister. Bill Gates during the meeting said to the PM that the Government of Japan should upgrade their PCs every three years instead of the current five year cycle. His talk was received "politely" with a smile though no real words were exchanged. The meeting finished and the three people from Microsoft (Bill, Japan head, my friend) headed off in different directions. Shortly afterwards, my friend gets a call on his mobile, "xxx-san, this is Bill. Your job is to get the Government of Japan to change its policy on PC upgrades to a three year cycle. You have one year." He had to report to Bill monthly on his progress. At the time, my firend thought it was impossible" and inconceivable. The Japanese government does not move that fast. But with this mission and a sharp focus, he got it done--meeting every single day with various government officials. Lesson: when leading set goals that stretch people's capabilities. By the way his work habits: start work at 9AM; work until 7PM, dinner/entertainment with clients until midnight; return to office until 4AM communicating with Microsoft HQ--go home to sleep; wake up and take his daughter to school and then get back to work.