Microsoft’s storied co-founder, Bill Gates, recently opened up about navigating success in the tech industry, admitting that it took him a while to bask in the achievements of the software giant he co-created. Even as he reached the status of a billionaire, Gates recalled feeling uneasy about their success, only finding some comfort around 1998. “Before that, I always had this looming sense that just one mistake could spell disaster for us,” Gates candidly shared.
The late Steve Jobs, another iconic figure in the tech world and Apple co-founder, had some rather colorful remarks about Gates’ approach to leadership and product development at Microsoft, as reported by Fortune. In a conversation with The Independent, Gates recounted a memorable quip from Jobs: “Steve once told me he wished I’d tried acid, suggesting it might have sharpened my design sensibilities.” Gates, with his characteristic wit, responded, “Looks like I just got my hands on the wrong batch.”
Thinking back, the relationship between Gates and Jobs could be best described as complex. Despite their professional rivalry, Gates played a crucial role in Apple’s early days by developing software for its computers. Not to mention, he offered a lifeline to the struggling company in 1997 with a significant investment.
Jobs, renowned for his extraordinary design and marketing genius, led the charge on revolutionary products like the iPhone and iMac. He had a knack that Gates admittedly couldn’t match in the design department, but Gates instead leveraged his strengths in technical knowledge and innovation.
Gates explained it well: “I received the coding talent, and he got the marketing and design flair—good on him. Our skills were so different; there wasn’t much overlap beyond being driven leaders pushing boundaries.”
Meanwhile, Gates’ Microsoft was busy making strides in cloud computing, a move that became a cornerstone of the company’s massive success, helping to lift it past a $3 trillion market value. They were also rolling out products in the Microsoft Office suite, tools that have snowballed in user numbers, with programs like Microsoft Word and Excel becoming indispensable worldwide. Yet, these accomplishments didn’t quite resonate with Jobs in terms of Gates’ product launch panache.
Adding an interesting tidbit, Gates disclosed in that same interview with The Independent that he had dabbled in drugs before launching Microsoft. “It was more about trying to look edgy,” Gates said, “Hoping it might catch the eye of someone special. That didn’t quite go as planned, so I moved on,” he concluded.
