In 1975, Microsoft was established during the dawn of the PC era, where sharing software was common among tech enthusiasts. Founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen quickly realized the impact of this culture on their nascent business. When hobbyists began pirating their early product, Gates penned a pivotal open letter demanding respect for intellectual property. This moment marked a significant shift in Microsoft's approach, forcing the company to advocate for software licensing—the foundation for its massive success and transformation into a $1 trillion company with a global workforce.
"The amount of royalties we have received from sales to hobbyists makes the time spent on Altair BASIC worth less than $2 an hour. As the majority of hobbyists must be aware, most of you steal your software.... Who cares if the people who work on it get paid?"
"When Microsoft was founded 50 years ago this month, it wasn't clear the company would last 50 weeks, much less 50 years. Since then, it's grown from a three-person company to one worth approximately $1 trillion, depending on the day's stock price."
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