European Commission fines Microsoft a record 497 million euros for antitrust violations
The European Commission issued a landmark ruling against Microsoft, imposing a 497 million euro fine — the largest ever levied by the EU against a single company at that time — for illegally tying Windows Media Player to the Windows operating system and refusing to disclose interoperability information to competitors. The ruling required Microsoft to release a version of Windows without Media Player in Europe. Gates and Microsoft ultimately paid the fine and complied with the technical requirements after years of additional proceedings before the EU Court of First Instance.
Source: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/antitrust/eu-commission-decision
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January 2024
Gates Uses Shell Companies to Quietly Accumulate $113 Million Nebraska Farmland Portfolio
A January 2024 investigation by The Guardian and Floodlight News revealed that entities connected to Bill Gates's Cascade Investment had used a network of limited liability companies — including Cottonwood Ag Management — to quietly purchase approximately 20,588 acres of Nebraska farmland valued at roughly $113 million, without disclosing the beneficial owner to local sellers or county officials. The acquisitions were part of Gates's wider strategy to become the largest private farmland owner in the United States, with holdings exceeding 269,000 acres across 18 states, managed through Cottonwood Ag Management and its parent Leading Harvest, which develops regenerative agriculture certification standards.
2024
Breakthrough Energy Ventures Raises $839 Million Fund III with Food and Agriculture Focus
Breakthrough Energy Ventures closed its third fund at $839 million, with food and agriculture as one of five core investment sectors alongside power, transportation, manufacturing, and buildings. The fund holds stakes in approximately 20 agricultural companies and requires each portfolio company to demonstrate a credible pathway to avoiding at least 500 million tons of CO₂-equivalent emissions annually by 2050. The 20-year investment horizon is deliberately longer than standard venture capital to reflect the time required to change biological and physical infrastructure at scale.
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