Bill Gates, one decade later

Ten years ago, it wouldn't have been a surprise to see Bill Gates on "Meet the Press." But the questions then would have been very different than they're likely to be this Sunday morning, when Gates and his wife, Melinda, are scheduled to appear on the show to discuss their philanthropic work.

It was November 1999, one decade ago this month, when U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issued his initial findings of fact in Civil Action No. 98-1232, the United States v. Microsoft -- concluding that the company had "demonstrated that it will use its prodigious market power and immense profits to harm any firm that insists on pursuing initiatives that could intensify competition against one of Microsoft's core products."

We don't know if "Meet the Press" host David Gregory will note the anniversary or ask Gates about it, but chances are that he won't. Not because Gregory doesn't ask tough questions, but because it probably won't come to mind. Whatever your opinion of Gates' actions, past and present, there's no disputing that his position as a public figure has been radically changed over the past decade.

Gone from the public eye is that 42-year-old kid who sipped a Diet Coke and defiantly jousted with a government lawyer over the definition of a computer operating system. In his place is a global philanthropist, someone who has nothing but nice things to say -- in public, at least -- about Steve Jobs and Google.

Of course this is only natural, with Gates now gone from daily life at Microsoft for nearly a year-and-a-half. He's not in the middle of Microsoft's battles anymore. It was remarkable, but not really surprising, that the Microsoft chairman said not one word last week during the company's annual meeting with shareholders.

So it might not even occur to Gregory to bring up the anniversary of Microsoft's antitrust case during the show. But on the off chance they haven't taped the segment yet, we'd like to suggest a question.

Back in 1998, at the height of Microsoft's antitrust problems, Gates was seen in public completely engrossed in "Titan," the Ron Chernow biography of John D. Rockefeller. So here's the question: What did Gates learn from the life of the Standard Oil mogul, and how has he applied it to his own life?

Given the similarities, the answer may be obvious to everyone else, but it would be pretty fascinating to hear the 54-year-old Gates give his take.

In the likely absence of that, here's a look back at Gates' speech to the Seattle Rotary earlier this year, which starts with a memorable introduction from his dad.

Source: TechFlash