Bill Gates Regrets Dropping Out from Harvard – He Spent Microsoft’s First Year Trying to Find “Someone Else” to Run It So He Could Return – Indian Defence Review
Bill Gates wasn’t as sure about Microsoft as the world might think. In its first year, he desperately tried to step away, hoping someone else would take over so he could return to Harvard. What made him change his mind would reshape the future of computing.In 1974, Bill Gates stood at a crossroads: continue his studies at Harvard, where he thrived in an intellectually rich environment, or take a massive leap into the unknown with Microsoft, a software company he had co-founded with his high school friend Paul Allen.The decision wasn’t easy. Gates enjoyed the rigorous academic atmosphere at Harvard, where he spent his time deeply engaged in courses like psychology, economics, and history, often sitting in on lectures just for fun. But a single magazine cover would soon change everything.Gates and Allen had long believed that microprocessors would transform computing, making bulky, expensive machines accessible to everyone. But for years, the technology hadn’t quite caught up to their vision—until January 1975, when Allen rushed into Gates’ dorm room in Currier House at Harvard, holding the latest issue of Popular Electronics.On the cover was the Altair 8800, a do-it-yourself computer kit built by MITS, a company based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The moment they saw it, they knew. The personal computing revolution had begun, and if they didn’t move fast, someone else would take the lead.According to CNBC, Even after launching Microsoft, Gates hesitated. In 1976, he tried running the company remotely while still attending Harvard, constantly flying between Boston and Albuquerque, where Microsoft had set up its first office.He even attempted to delegate leadership to Ric Weiland, another high school friend and early Microsoft programmer, in hopes of finishing school. But Weiland soon left for graduate school at Stanford University before briefly returning to Microsoft, only to leave again later.Gates ultimately realized that no one else had the urgency, intensity, or vision to push Microsoft forward the way he could. The software industry was in its infancy, and every day spent in a classroom was a day lost in the race to dominate the market.“I had to give in to the inevitable,” Gates later wrote. He officially left Harvard in 1976, never completing his degree.Microsoft quickly became the driving force behind the personal computing revolution. The company’s goal was clear: “A computer on every desk and in every home.”Gates and Allen didn’t just want to create software—they wanted to build everything from word processors to spreadsheets, shaping the foundation of modern computing. In 1980, Microsoft secured a pivotal deal with IBM, supplying the operating system that became MS-DOS. By the time Gates stepped down as CEO of Microsoft in 2000, the company had revolutionized computing and turned him into one of the world’s richest individuals. Today, Microsoft is valued at over three trillion dollars, making it one of the most valuable companies in history.Despite his own success, Gates doesn’t encourage others to follow his path. “You know, I’m not some person who promotes dropping out of college,” he says. “I’m a huge fan of a broad set of knowledge, and I think it’s an exceptional case where the urgency is such that you interrupt those college years to go do something else.”For him, Harvard was invaluable, not just for what he learned but for how it shaped his curiosity and problem-solving mindset. His advice is simple: unless you’re facing an urgent, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, finish school.But for Gates, the Altair 8800 wasn’t just another opportunity—it was a sign that the future had arrived, and Microsoft needed to be at its forefront.This story is part of CNBC Make It’s The Moment series, where highly successful people reveal the critical moment that changed the trajectory of their lives and careers, discussing what drove them to make the leap into the unknown.Comment Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
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