Microsoft founder Bill Gates on Musk and Jobs: "I consider myself very nice in comparison"

At an awards ceremony, Bill Gates spoke about his experiences as a leader in an innovation company. He also mentioned the two leaders Elon Musk and Steve Jobs and compared himself with them.

• Bill Gates about running an innovative company
• Long story with Musk and Jobs
• Lots of recognition despite disagreements

Gates compares his leadership style to Musk and Jobs

“I think I’m very nice compared to these guys,” said Microsoft founder Bill Gates after receiving the Peter G. Peterson Leadership Excellence Award from the Economic Club of New York in early December 2023, as Business Insider reports. The conversation began after the moderator asked him about his experiences and lessons from his time as a leader at the technology company. In his opinion, managers should think independently about the “toughness” of their leadership style, especially when they lead innovative companies. “Everyone is different. Elon [Musk, Anm. d. Red.] puts a lot of pressure, maybe too much,” said Gates, “Steve Jobs put a lot of pressure, maybe too much.” According to him, he is a lot more relaxed than these two.

Long history between the tech giants

But he doesn’t seem to have named the head of Tesla and the co-founder of Apple without reason, as he has a long history with both leaders. The relationship with Steve Jobs, who died in 2011, was characterized by a love-hate relationship that alternated between friendship and competition, according to the portal t3n.de. Nonetheless, even after Jobs’ death, Gates stated that he always respected him and valued competition, it goes on to say. According to Business Insider, this constant competition is often cited as a reason for Apple and Microsoft’s significant innovations.

But also to the Tesla CEO Elon Musk Gates has a rather difficult relationship, which is described, among other things, in Elon Musk’s biography by the author Walter Isaacson, as ntv reports. But Gates himself also reports on the tense relationship between the two economic giants. According to him, Musk was “really mean” after he shorted Tesla shares, i.e. betting on a drop in the share price, as Business Insider reports, citing an exchange between Gates and Musk biographer Isaacson. But the fact that Musk is mean shouldn’t be taken personally, because that’s what he is to many people, says Gates. Despite all the differences, he also sees a certain comparability to his time at Microsoft: “In my twenties I was really only focused on Microsoft. I didn’t believe in vacations or weekends.” In order to be successful as a leader of an innovative company, a certain level of persistence is required, Gates finally admitted during the interview, according to Business Insider.

J. Vogel / editorial team finanzen.net

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