Bill Gates just retired from Microsoft this week. I've always found him to be a compelling person. My favorite story about him was in one of the biographies published several years back. It told of Gates sitting in his huge mansion in the Pacific NW with a few buddies. They were just hanging out. The guys start talking about ordering a pizza and everyone's discussing who's going to put in for the pizza. Remember, Bill Gates, 52, is the richest private person in the world with a net worth of at least $56 billion (according to Forbes Magazine). His worth has been estimated in the past to be up to $100 billion. His 48,000 square foot mansion, valued at around $100 million is no Unabomber cabin.
They all are deciding if they should order pizza as if they were poor college students. Finally, Gates gets on the phone and calls Domino's or Pizza Hut or something. The kid on the line says: "Sorry man, we just closed. We aren't delivering anymore tonight," so Gates hangs up. He turns to his friends and says: "Dang it, we just missed it. They said the place just closed. I really wanted a pizza, too."
One of his friends looks at him and says: "Bill, you're the richest man in the world. For crying out loud, you could buy the company if you wanted to and have them put a branch in your house. Call them back and see how much money it'll take for them to stay open a few more minutes and bring us a pizza." Gates apparently likes to throw money around as much as he likes Apple. Finally they convince him and they place a wager on how much he'll have to offer to get the kid there.
Gates calls back to the pizza place and asks if $100 would make it worth his while to deliver the pizza and keep it open. The kid accepts and when Gates says it's for him the kid goes nuts. They make the pizza and bring it to the mansion.
I think that story is funny because it tells you even Bill Gates can't comprehend his personal worth.
Here are two funny videos of him I found on the internet. One is from David Letterman and the other produced by Gates himself:
Thursday, January 10, 2008
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