A look at Microsoft's first 11 employees On Dec. 7, 1978, the entire work force of Microsoft Corp. got together for a group photo prior to moving the company from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the Seattle area. Of those 11 people, only one, chairman Bill Gates, is still with Microsoft. The rest went on to a variety of activities from cattle ranching to professional philanthropy. Many are still involved in high-tech ventures. Despite the wildfire growth of Microsoft these past 25 years, only one other person in the photo, cofounder Paul Allen, is a billionaire. Most of the others became millionaires, however, as the stock options they received from Microsoft grew more valuable over the past 25 years. Gates, of course, stayed with the company, while Allen left in 1983 after a successful battle with Hodgkin's disease. He remains on Microsoft's board of directors and has a variety of high-tech and cable TV investments. Allen also owns the NFL's Seattle Seahawks and the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers and recently bought The Sporting News, the nation's oldest sporting publication. Here's a look at what became of the rest of Microsoft's work force, circa 1978 Bob Greenberg: Greenberg worked at Microsoft from 1977 to 1981, developing BASIC programming language. Today, Greenberg, whose wealth was recently estimated at $20 million, develops software for golf courses. He reportedly has homes in southern California, Connecticut and Florida. Jim Lane He left in 1985, saying at the time that "they beat the enthusiasm out of me." Today, Lane runs his own software company and consultancy and lives in a high-end neighborhood on Mercer Island, Washington, with his wife and three children. His personal wealth has been estimated at $20 million. Gordon Letwin Through the 1980s, Letwin was put in charge of a variety of projects, including development for the now-defunct OS/2 operating system. Gates called Letwin as good a programmer as himself. Letwin took indefinite leave from the company in 1993 to, as he said at the time, "kick back with my wife." He lives in the Seattle area and has a ranch in Arizona. Letwin, worth about $20 million, has given substantially to environmental causes. Andrea Lewis After leaving the company in 1983 with two years of options worth about $2 million today, she became a freelance journalist and fiction writer. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two children. Lewis recently helped build a literary centre in the former Seattle home of poet Richard Hugo. Marc McDonald Today, McDonald, who once said he was worth "less than $1 million" is the chief software scientist with Design Intelligence, a Seattle-based software startup company. Bob O'Rear He joined Microsoft as its chief mathematician and employee No. 7 in 1977, and helped bring the BASIC programming language to many different kinds of computers. O'Rear, now 59, left in 1983. Today he runs a cattle ranch in his native Texas and also serves on the boards of several high-tech firms. He is said to be worth $100 million. Bob Wallace A BBC documentary made in 1995 featured Wallace as someone whose vision and achievements as a software pioneer were aided by the use of psychedelic drugs. Media reports have pegged his wealth at about $5 million. Died October 2002 at 53. Steve and Marla Wood Steve Wood worked with
Allen on a number of ventures in the 1980s, and today runs Wireless Corp., which
provides Internet access software and services to cellular phones. Marla Wood
became a "professional volunteer" and cares for the couple's two
children. They live in Bellevue, Washington, and are said to be worth a combined
$15 million. |