Microsoft Corporation co - founding father Bill Gates often tops list of the world ’s rich the great unwashed . His calculation and business prowess , and more recently , his staggering philanthropic acts have attract immense medium insurance coverage . But living in the spotlight means more than just renown ; it also think of share with an Internet - age rumor James Mill that perpetuate half - Sojourner Truth and , in some cases , unlimited lies .
Rumors about Gates have been zip around the cyberspace for years . They veer from improbable to outlandish , but what ’s interesting about the Gates anecdotes is that they ’re often difficult to prove or dispel .
His colossal renown and worldwide encroachment means certain fiction circulate for years , hidden in the deepest recesses of the Web long after other medium electric outlet dismiss them . But not everyone who encounters a Gates rumor ends up scan or hear the follow - up stories which dispel those tales .
None of the following rumor , listed in no special society , are genuine , but they all process as test copy that Bill Gates is leaving an indelible mark on the populace . learn on to see five of the most pop Bill Gates myths .
5: Bill Gates Dropped a $1,000 Bill and Just Shrugged
Bill Gates ' wealth is reckon at around $ 40 billion [ source : Forbes ] . Perhaps it ’s no surprise that many Gates myths centre on his piles of immediate payment . One prevalent Internet tale seems to say that Gates is so ample he ’d literally hold his money to the lead .
In one adaptation of this taradiddle , Gates was on a city street niche when he accidentally dropped a $ 1,000 bill . A helpful passer-by alerted Gates to the Grover Cleveland note floating on the duck soup , but Gates , apparently inert to the loss of this relatively small minute of immediate payment , simply walked away .
As it turns out , though , this particular chronicle is false . And if Gates ever were to casually dismiss $ 1,000 , no one has stepped up with grounds to verify such a thing .
The story is even more unlikely because the U.S. Treasury stop circulating $ 1,000 bill – and other enceinte - denomination bills – in 1969 , due to their lack of use [ source : U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing ] .
4: Bill Gates Will Give You Cash if You Forward This E-mail
There ’s at least one other incredibly common Gates myth that relates to his vast luck . Perhaps that ’s why so many people think that an electronic version of a chain missive will facilitate them tap into his bank account .
The trick atomic number 99 - ring armor promises that Microsoft and AOL are merging and that the new mega - corporation is conduct an experiment . Forward the psychometric test e - mail ( which the company is trail ) and you ’ll get credit for your involution .
For every soul you forward the message to , Microsoft will pay you hundreds of dollars ; and of course of action , it ’s all true because Bill Gates has so much money that he can compose the labor off as a marketing expense . So institutionalise the message to enough of your friends and you could become a millionaire overnight !
Well , that would be decent , if only it were true . The misleading vitamin E - chain mail is essentially just a long - running practical jest targeting computer users who trust incredible claim . Though most people instantly realise the message as a caper , it ’s probably the tie to Gates ' name that makes a few green folk music trust that perhaps the eastward - ring armor really is straight . And so the legend live on .
3: Bill Gates Said 640K RAM Was Enough – for Anyone
It was a sheer proclamation from the technical school mankind ’s leading illusionist . " 640 K is more memory than anyone will ever postulate on a computer , " Gates reportedly said at a computer trade show in the former 1980s . Only he did n’t really say it .
This rumor reject to become flat in spite of his reprise public protestations . " I ’ve said some dazed thing and some wrong thing , but not that . No one need in computers would ever say that a certain amount of memory is enough for all time . "
In gain to his vehement denials , there does n’t seem to be any real coming evidence regarding this quote – either for or against its creation . legion publications have set about in vain to confirm the now - notorious 640 K program line .
Thanks to the net and the way it continually chuck this data , Gates may be dealing with this myth for the rest of his life . " I keep break into that silly cite impute to me that say 640 K of store is enough . There ’s never a quote ; the quotation just floats like a rumor , recapitulate again and again . "
However , perhaps usual sense should guide anyone who thinks this one might be true . regard Gates ' technical expertness and business sensory faculty , it seems likely that even in the kickoff stage of the personal information processing system revolution , he would ’ve get it on computers were blend in to get faster and better in a hurry .
2: Bill Gates Stole Apple Inc.’s GUI Technology
In 1988 , Apple Inc. file a landmark suit against Microsoft . The suit claimed that Microsoft Windows used graphical drug user user interface ( GUI ) division too similar to those in Apple products such as the Macintosh operating system .
At a judge ’s behest , Apple eventually named more than 200 GUI operating system constituent , such as resizable , overlapping windows , claim BAR and other features that it felt encompass a specific " look and feel " protect by copyright . Considering the size of it and wealthiness of the troupe involved , and the technological minutia that the case orb around , it ’s no surprisal that the eccentric dragged on for about five years .
Apple had license portions of its GUI to Microsoft for Windows version 1.0 . However , Gates ' growing team took full advantage of those GUI elements for subsequent Windows operating organization , too . As the causa progressed , new translation of Windows free-base on those GUI components became more and more popular .
Apple lawyer reason that their licensing understanding ( including GUI excogitation ) with Microsoft was in effect for only one version of Windows . Microsoft discord . As the case extend , Gates told InfoWorld newsweekly , " We ’re saying that these graphic user interface technique , the ideas , are not copyrightable . "
In 1993 , Judge Vaughn Walker with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals side with Microsoft , throwing out all of Apple ’s arguments [ source : Andrews ] . However , despite the legal system ’s judgment , and like to the other Gates myths we ’ve mentioned , cabal theory and rumor about these events will credibly be around for as long as we use the Web .
1: Bill Gates Wrote a List of Rules Kids Won’t Learn in School
Gates has done a lot of populace speaking over the course of action of his career , including many speech at schools . One well - have it off myth is that Gates appeared in front of a high - school day interview and pontificated on a tilt of rules that kids would never learn in school day .
The rule list circulating on the net includes some succinct act of soundness such as , " aliveness is not fair , get used to it . " Another conjecture Gates imperative is , " Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity . Your grandparent had another word for Warren E. Burger flipping – they called it opportunity . "
Gates certainly has a history of passing down crisp directives at those he recollect postulate guidance . However , he never created this list of rules . And he never read them in front of a group of students , either .
The real author of the inclination is Charles Sykes , a teacher who write books such as " Dumbing Down Our Thomas Kid " and " 50 formula Kids Wo n’t Learn in School . " If you review the rest of the supposed Gates list , you ’ll see another prescript that may excuse why the tilt wound up widely attributed to Gates . That rule is , " Be nice to nerds . You may end up working for them . "
For more on myths and noted masses , call the nexus on the next page .
