On April 4, 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen started a small company called Microsoft. You probably know the story from there: Bill Gates became the richest person in the world, and then gradually began to withdraw from his company to focus on philanthropic efforts through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Despite all his philanthropic endeavors, Gates never seemed to be far from Microsoft. Last year, when Satya Nadella took over as CEO, Gates said he could have a bigger role at the company.
Bill Gates, on the occasion of Microsoft's 40th anniversary, sent the following letter to the company's employees. Bill Gates' letter was posted on Twitter by Amit Choudhary and sources confirmed its authenticity to TheVerge.
Tomorrow is a special day: Microsoft's 40th anniversary.
Originally, Paul Allen and I (Bill Gates) set the goal of a computer in every office and every home. It was a bold idea, and many people thought we were crazy to believe it was possible. It's amazing to think how far computing has come since then, and we can all be proud of the role Microsoft played in that revolution.
But today, I think much more about Microsoft's future than its past. I believe that computing will evolve faster in the next 10 years than ever before. We already live in a multi-platform world, and computing will become even more flexible. We are approaching the point where computers and robots will be able to see, move, and interact naturally, with the release of many new applications to empower people.
Under Satya’s leadership, Microsoft is better positioned than ever to drive these advances. We have the resources to solve difficult problems. We are deeply engaged in every aspect of modern computing and have the deepest commitment to research in the industry. In my role as Satya’s technical advisor, I am impressed by the vision and talent I see. The result is evident in products like Cortana, Skype Translator, and HoloLens – and these are just a few of the many innovations on the way.
In the coming years, Microsoft will have the ability to reach even more people and organizations around the world. Technology is still out of reach for many people, because it is complex or expensive, or simply because they don't have access. So I hope you will consider what you can do to make technology accessible to everyone, connect people together, and make personal computing available everywhere.
We've accomplished a lot together in our first 40 years, and we have countless businesses and people to help us realize their full potential. But what matters most now is what we do next. Thank you for helping make Microsoft a fantastic company today and for decades to come.
