$ cat ./records/judge-jackson-orders-microsoft-broken-into-two-companies-gatess-b-2000.txt
Judge Jackson orders Microsoft broken into two companies — Gates's biggest legal defeat
[RECORD.TXT] · cat --full
U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issued a sweeping remedy order requiring Microsoft to be split into two separate companies: one selling the Windows operating system and one selling all other software products. Jackson had previously ruled that Microsoft had illegally maintained its Windows monopoly and unlawfully tied Internet Explorer to the OS. The breakup order was the most severe antitrust remedy sought against a technology company since the AT&T split of 1984 and is widely cited as a key catalyst in Gates's decision to step down as CEO.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp.
Free forever · No ads · Solo developer
If this was worth a read, help make the next entry possible.
Every entry in this archive was researched, verified, and written by one person — for free. No corporate funding. No ad revenue. Just a developer who believes verified history should be accessible to everyone. Your donation directly funds new entries.
Crypto accepted · No subscription required
← Previous
Donated $210 million to Cambridge University — establishing the Gates Cambridge Scholarships
Next →
GAVI vaccine alliance launched at World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos
[CROSS_REFERENCES] · grep --category='Business'
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.
2026
Gates's Charitable Endowment Is Now Led by Berkshire, Not Microsoft
By 2026, the publicly disclosed stock portfolio of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust — the endowment that funds Gates's philanthropy — was led not by Microsoft but by Berkshire Hathaway, Waste Management, Canadian National Railway, Caterpillar, and Deere. Decades of diversification, plus Warren Buffett's stock gifts, left it concentrated in railroads, waste, heavy equipment, and Buffett's conglomerate, while Microsoft — the source of the original fortune — had largely been sold down. The unglamorous, value-oriented mix reflects the long stewardship of Gates's money manager, Michael Larson, through Cascade Investment.
[ARCHIVE_FUNDING] · INDEPENDENT · NO ADS
One developer. >300 verified entries. Zero ads. Forever free.
No sponsors, no paywall, no algorithm. If this archive has been useful to you, reader support is what keeps it running.