$ cat ./records/doj-and-microsoft-reach-antitrust-consent-decree-ending-the-landm-2001.txt
DOJ and Microsoft reach antitrust consent decree — ending the landmark case without a breakup
[RECORD.TXT] · cat --full
The Department of Justice under Attorney General John Ashcroft reached a consent decree with Microsoft that settled the landmark antitrust case without forcing a corporate breakup. The settlement required Microsoft to share its application programming interfaces with third-party companies and installed a compliance committee with access to Microsoft's systems. Critics, including several state attorneys general, argued the settlement was too lenient. The case is now studied in law schools as a defining example of the tension between innovation policy and antitrust enforcement in the technology industry.
Source: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/long-antitrust-saga-ends-for-microsoft/
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Related Accomplishments
2026
Gates Foundation Trust Sells Off the Last of Its Microsoft Stock
In the first quarter of 2026, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust sold its remaining Microsoft shares, fully exiting a position in the very company that created Gates's fortune — capping a long, deliberate diversification away from the stock. The endowment that funds Gates's philanthropy, managed separately from its grant-making through Cascade, is now anchored instead by Berkshire Hathaway, Waste Management, railroads, and heavy-equipment makers. The sale underscored how thoroughly Gates's giving had decoupled from Microsoft's day-to-day fortunes.
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