The day Microsoft rescued Apple – The forgotten story.
Without Bill Gates, today’s Apple probably wouldn’t exist!
In 1997, Microsoft rescued one-time and future nemesis Apple with a $150 million investment that breathe new life into a struggling Silicon Alley icon.
In a remarkable feat of negotiating legerdemain, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs got needed cash — in return for non-voting shares — and an assurance that Microsoft would support Office for the Mac for five years.
And while the fanboys didn’t exactly know what to make of the new friendship between the corporate equivalents of a mongoose and a cobra, their instinct was, of course, to be against it. As reported at the time by The Seattle Times, “The unexpected revelation … prompted gasps of disbelief and loud boos from the audience of thousands of Mac users and software developers.”
Jobs, the Times reported, “attempted to soothe the audience, saying: ‘We have to let go of a few notions here. We have to let go of the notion that for Apple to win, Microsoft needs to lose.’”
Do watch the video!
Addl details at Wired and PCWorld.
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