Mr. and Mrs. Kidall, and back then IBM NDAs etc. were so onerous they would essentially own your product/company if they so choose. I was told this specifically about the MIT AI Lab's Lisp Machine, they were approached by IBM but turned them down after a MIT lawyer looked at the agreement.
Digital Research had an existing business to protect, Microsoft didn't have an OS business besides their licensed XENIX, and was just starting to branch out from computer languages (e.g. BASIC). It was a calculated risk for both, and for all we know against the Kidalls IBM would have gotten away with a lot more than against Bill Gates.
Who I'd note was massively connected through his family, e.g. his mother, per Wikipedia:
"Beyond the Seattle area, Gates was appointed to the board of directors of the national United Way in 1980, becoming the first woman to lead it in 1983. Her tenure on the national board's executive committee is believed to have helped Microsoft, based in Seattle, at a crucial time. In 1980, she discussed with John Opel, a fellow committee member who was the chairman of the International Business Machines Corporation, her son's company. Mr. Opel, by some accounts, mentioned Mrs. Gates to other I.B.M. executives.
A few weeks later, I.B.M. took a chance by hiring Microsoft, then a small software firm, to develop an operating system for its first personal computer."
His father was principle counsel and later a named partner in a major white shoe law firm. He wasn't someone IBM could casually screw over.
Comments
Mr. and Mrs. Kidall, and back then IBM NDAs etc. were so onerous they would essentially own your product/company if they so choose. I was told this specifically about the MIT AI Lab's Lisp Machine, they were approached by IBM but turned them down after a MIT lawyer looked at the agreement.
Digital Research had an existing business to protect, Microsoft didn't have an OS business besides their licensed XENIX, and was just starting to branch out from computer languages (e.g. BASIC). It was a calculated risk for both, and for all we know against the Kidalls IBM would have gotten away with a lot more than against Bill Gates.
Who I'd note was massively connected through his family, e.g. his mother, per Wikipedia:
"Beyond the Seattle area, Gates was appointed to the board of directors of the national United Way in 1980, becoming the first woman to lead it in 1983. Her tenure on the national board's executive committee is believed to have helped Microsoft, based in Seattle, at a crucial time. In 1980, she discussed with John Opel, a fellow committee member who was the chairman of the International Business Machines Corporation, her son's company. Mr. Opel, by some accounts, mentioned Mrs. Gates to other I.B.M. executives.
A few weeks later, I.B.M. took a chance by hiring Microsoft, then a small software firm, to develop an operating system for its first personal computer."
His father was principle counsel and later a named partner in a major white shoe law firm. He wasn't someone IBM could casually screw over.