Apparently, as Bill Gates made his farewells to 800 Microsoft employees last Friday morning, he was overcome by emotion. According to Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter Todd Bishop, who attended the event and posted audio of the speech, both Gates and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer struggled to hold it together as Ballmer presented Gates with a farewell gift: A scrapbook of photos and memories.
"Even the times that were the toughest, in some ways, those are the ones that bond you the most," Gates told the gathering. "You know, when IBM decides to attack you, or when some legal ruling isn't quite right, and you have to have a press conference afterwards."
Gates urged employees to realize that the work they do has a long term impact on the world, and said that he takes special pride in seeing blind people using the Internet as a result of the software accessibility improvements Microsoft has made over the years. In the end, though, Gates said the overriding memory he'll take from his many years at Microsoft is the fun he's had coming to work every day.
Hey, if I was making a million dollars a minute, I'd look forward to coming to work every day as well!
George Parker
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