Bill Gates remembered everyone’s license plate at Microsoft so he could check when they came and went
REUTERS/Rick Wilking
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates with Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett.
Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, told the BBC Radio 4′s “Desert Island Discs” programme that he used to memorise the number plates of early employees’ cars to track their comings and goings.
“I had to be a little careful not to try and apply my standards to how hard they worked,” he said, according to The Telegraph. “You know, I knew everyone’s licence plates so I could look out in the parking lot and see when did people come in, when were they leaving. Eventually I had to loosen up, as the company got to a reasonable size.”
“Desert Island Discs” is a weekly British radio programme that gets celebrities, politicians, and other famous people to choose the songs they would take onto a desert island.
Gates chose an eclectic mix of tracks — including ones by David Bowie, Ed Sheeran, U2, and The Beatles — and talked about Steve Jobs, his philanthropic work, and Microsoft in the early days. The presenter, Kirsty Young, introduced Gates as the richest man in the world.
According to Gates, he was “a little more intense than most people” when he set up Microsoft, but “no more intense than Steve Jobs,” who co-founded Apple in 1976. He then praised Jobs as an “incredible genius,” saying that their relationship changed from work to children and home life as they became older.
Microsoft, under Gates, bailed out Apple in the early 2000s when the company was low on cash and needed a buffer to create the iPod. At a (now infamous) Apple keynote, Gates appeared on the big screen behind Jobs.
Gates has now focused his work on philanthropic causes, such as ending poverty, but spends around a third of his time at Microsoft, as an advisor to CEO Satya Nadella.
Listen to the full episode of “Desert Island Discs.”
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