軟公司聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人保羅?艾倫(Paul Allen)新出版的回憶錄揭示,在微軟公司成立初期,艾倫治療癌癥期間,比爾?蓋茨(Bill Gates)曾處心積慮地想從艾倫手中奪取微軟公司的股份。這項(xiàng)指控是書(shū)中對(duì)蓋茨關(guān)鍵描繪的組成部分。艾倫和蓋茨在小學(xué)結(jié)下的友誼最終發(fā)展成美國(guó)商界一個(gè)標(biāo)志性的合作伙伴關(guān)系。本書(shū)定于4月17日發(fā)售,書(shū)名叫做《有想法的人:微軟聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人的回憶錄》(Idea Man: A Memoir by the Co-founder of Microsoft)?!度A爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》提前看到了這本回憶錄的草稿。周三早些時(shí)候《名利場(chǎng)》(Vanity Fair)雜志的網(wǎng)站刊登了本書(shū)的節(jié)錄。本書(shū)重新審視了微軟發(fā)展歷史上的一些細(xì)節(jié),以及蓋茨和前任合伙人之間的關(guān)系。一直以來(lái)外界就認(rèn)為這兩人即使不算至交也是非常親密的朋友。據(jù)認(rèn)識(shí)蓋茨和艾倫的知情人士透露,本書(shū)在兩人間制造了裂痕。在回憶錄的致謝章節(jié),艾倫感謝蓋茨和其他17位朋友給予的“總體和物力上的協(xié)助”。艾倫的發(fā)言人大衛(wèi)?波茨曼(David Postman)說(shuō),本書(shū)對(duì)兩人關(guān)系的描述非常地平衡。他又說(shuō)很顯然艾倫非常重視蓋茨的想法、精力和對(duì)公司的投入。蓋茨在一份書(shū)面聲明中說(shuō),雖然我對(duì)許多事件的回憶可能與艾倫不同,但我珍視和他的友誼,以及他對(duì)科技界和微軟做出的重要貢獻(xiàn)。艾倫在書(shū)中對(duì)蓋茨直言不諱的描述已經(jīng)在那些早期曾在微軟工作過(guò)的人結(jié)成的小圈子里引起了波瀾。好幾位認(rèn)識(shí)蓋茨和艾倫的人私底下都對(duì)艾倫批評(píng)曾經(jīng)的商業(yè)伙伴的動(dòng)機(jī)表達(dá)了困惑,并質(zhì)疑艾倫對(duì)某些事件的解釋的準(zhǔn)確性。比如在書(shū)中艾倫說(shuō)自己曾參加了某些會(huì)議,但熟悉情況的人說(shuō)艾倫從未參加過(guò)那些會(huì)議。再比如艾倫說(shuō)為了爭(zhēng)取一位可能成為微軟最重要程序員的計(jì)算機(jī)專(zhuān)家,他曾造訪加州的帕洛阿爾托(Palo Alto)。但知情人士說(shuō)去的人是蓋茨。波茨曼說(shuō)他對(duì)書(shū)中的任何錯(cuò)誤都不知情。在書(shū)中,艾倫把自己描繪成是引發(fā)微軟許多最重要思想的火花,并在某些情況下刻意淡化蓋茨的作用。貫穿全書(shū)的是艾倫表達(dá)的一絲苦澀,因?yàn)樗葲](méi)能因自己在微軟的工作獲得更多的贊揚(yáng),也沒(méi)能獲得微軟更多的股份。由于蓋茨領(lǐng)導(dǎo)有方,艾倫從微軟的成功中獲益頗豐,成為了全球最富有的一個(gè)人。他的大多數(shù)財(cái)富是在他離開(kāi)微軟以后的幾年中建立起來(lái)的。1981年,卡爾?斯托克(Carl Stork)到微軟擔(dān)任蓋茨的技術(shù)助理,在公司一干就是二十年。他說(shuō),“我覺(jué)得很驚訝,保羅竟然會(huì)覺(jué)得,對(duì)他所獲得的微軟股份表示不滿會(huì)有助于他的名聲。以前我們都當(dāng)保羅是朋友,也很看重他對(duì)公司的貢獻(xiàn),不過(guò),毫無(wú)疑問(wèn),比爾對(duì)微軟的增長(zhǎng)和成功所起的作用要比保羅大得多?!?div style="height:15px;">
熟悉這對(duì)搭檔的人說(shuō),蓋茨之所以屢次嘗試削減艾倫的持股比例,是因?yàn)樗X(jué)得艾倫工作不夠努力,對(duì)公司的事業(yè)也不夠忠誠(chéng)。這些人還說(shuō),就是由于這個(gè)原因,蓋茨才在兩人的第一份合伙協(xié)議中加了一個(gè)條款,由此就有權(quán)在兩人之間出現(xiàn)“不可調(diào)和的矛盾”的情況下買(mǎi)下艾倫的全部股份。艾倫的書(shū)中也提到了這份協(xié)議,但沒(méi)提及蓋茨在協(xié)議中增加上述條款的事情。微軟公司越來(lái)越大,像蓋茨這樣一門(mén)心思想把公司做大的公司成員也越來(lái)越多。他們都愿意沒(méi)日沒(méi)夜地工作,愿意睡在辦公室里,還愿意為公司的戰(zhàn)略和技術(shù)決定相互爭(zhēng)吵。按照這些人的說(shuō)法,此時(shí)的艾倫越來(lái)越厭倦這樣的生活,總是拖在其他團(tuán)隊(duì)成員的后面。就這樣,他漸漸地喪失了在公司待下去的興趣。艾倫則在自己的書(shū)里說(shuō),與蓋茨的爭(zhēng)執(zhí)讓他心力交瘁。他如是寫(xiě)道,“低落的情緒榨干了我對(duì)工作的熱情,反過(guò)來(lái)又為蓋茨的下一次攻擊提供了口實(shí)?!彼瑫r(shí)指出,蓋茨也曾經(jīng)做過(guò)一些努力,想讓他留在公司里。離開(kāi)微軟之后的幾十年里,艾倫一直在用自己的財(cái)富為自己鋪設(shè)一條多少有點(diǎn)兒怪異的人生道路。他在生意上的許多投資不是血本無(wú)歸,就是收益微薄,諸如Charter Communications有線電視公司、Asymetrix軟體公司和機(jī)上盒制造商Digeo公司之類(lèi)的嘗試都以失敗告終。艾倫還在書(shū)中講到了其他的一些投資嘗試,比如購(gòu)買(mǎi)NBA的波特蘭開(kāi)拓者隊(duì)(Portland Trailblazers)和美國(guó)橄欖球聯(lián)盟(NFL)的西雅圖海鷹隊(duì)(Seattle Seahawks)。他投資創(chuàng)建了由建筑師弗蘭克?蓋瑞(Frank Gehry)設(shè)計(jì)的西雅圖搖滾博物館和科幻博物館,還在2003年捐資1億美元建立了非營(yíng)利的艾倫腦科學(xué)研究所(Allen Institute for Brain Science),旨在探索大腦的運(yùn)作機(jī)制。早在艾倫通過(guò)微軟致富之前,熟悉他的人就已經(jīng)注意到,他的興趣似乎不只是經(jīng)營(yíng)軟件生意。上世紀(jì)七十年代,大衛(wèi)?邦內(nèi)爾(David Bunnell)曾經(jīng)就職于新墨西哥的微儀系統(tǒng)家用電子公司(更廣為人知的是公司名字的縮寫(xiě)MITS),與艾倫和蓋茨一起工作。他說(shuō),艾倫對(duì)音樂(lè)和文化的興趣要比蓋茨大。邦內(nèi)爾說(shuō),“從一個(gè)更為寬泛的角度來(lái)說(shuō),他對(duì)這個(gè)世界更感興趣。我覺(jué)得,跟他比起來(lái),比爾有點(diǎn)兒一根筋?!?div style="height:15px;">
Bill Gates schemed to take shares in Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) from his co-founder during the early days of the software company following his partner''''s treatment for cancer, according to a new memoir by the billionaire co-founder, Paul Allen.The allegation is part of a critical portrait in the book of Mr. Gates, with whom Mr. Allen formed a friendship in grade-school that evolved into one of the iconic partnerships of American business. The book, ''''Idea Man: A Memoir by the Co-founder of Microsoft,'''' is scheduled to go on sale on April 17. A draft of the memoir was viewed by The Wall Street Journal. An excerpt of the book appeared on Vanity Fair''''s Web site early Wednesday.The book gives a revisionist take on some details of Microsoft''''s history and the relationship between Mr. Gates and his former partner, the two of whom have long been viewed as cordial if not close friends. The book has created a rift between Mr. Gates and Mr. Allen, say people who know both men. In the book''''s acknowledgements section, Mr. Allen thanks Mr. Gates along with 17 other people for ''''general and logistical assistance.''''The book is ''''a very balanced portrayal of their relationship,'''' said David Postman, a spokesman for Mr. Allen. ''''Paul clearly values the input and the ideas and energy of Bill Gates.''''''''While my recollection of many of these events may differ from Paul''''s, I value his friendship and the important contributions he made to the world of technology and at Microsoft,'''' Mr. Gates said in a written statement.Mr. Allen''''s unflattering account of Mr. Gates in the book is already making waves within the tight circle of early Microsoft alumni, with several people who know both men privately expressing confusion about Mr. Allen''''s motivations for criticizing his old business partner and questioning the accuracy of Mr. Allen''''s interpretation of certain events. Mr. Allen, for instance, puts himself in meetings that people familiar with the meetings say he never attended. In one case, Mr. Allen visits Palo Alto, Calif. to help woo a computer scientist who would later become one of the Microsoft''''s most important programmers. People familiar with the meeting said it was Mr. Gates who made the visit. Mr. Postman said that he isn''''t aware of any errors in the book.Mr. Allen in the book also positions himself as the spark of many of Microsoft''''s most important ideas, downplaying Mr. Gates''''s role in some cases. Woven throughout the book is a bitterness Mr. Allen expresses for not receiving more credit for his work throughout his career and more shares in Microsoft.Mr. Allen became one of the world''''s richest people from the success of Microsoft under Mr. Gates'''' leadership, with the vast majority of his wealth created in the years after he left the company.''''I am surprised that Paul would have felt that it helps his legacy to express dissatisfaction with the share of Microsoft he received,'''' says Carl Stork, who joined Microsoft in 1981 as a technical assistant to Mr. Gates and worked there for two decades. ''''While all of us considered Paul a friend and valued his contribution, there is no question that Bill had a far larger impact on the growth and success of Microsoft than did Paul.''''Much of the book focuses on the philanthropic and entrepreneurial efforts of Mr. Allen since he left Microsoft as an officer in the early 1980s. His early stake in the company created one of the world''''s greatest fortunes - he ranks 57th on the Forbes magazine list of billionaires, with an estimated $13 billion fortune - and funded everything from his acquisition of multiple professional sports teams to a successful quest to win a prize for building a reusable spacecraft.Throughout the history of the technology industry, one co-founder often plays an outsized role in the success of their companies. Mr. Gates, Apple Inc.''''s Steve Jobs and Facebook Inc.''''s Mark Zuckerberg all saw their co-founders leave before their companies truly took off. Yet the importance of those early partnerships can''''t be overlooked, says David Yoffie, a professor at Harvard Business School.''''I''''m not sure Bill would ever have dropped out of Harvard if it wasn''''t for Paul,'''' Mr. Yoffie said, referring to Mr. Allen''''s role in encouraging Mr. Gates to leave college to start Microsoft. ''''I don''''t know whether Steve Jobs, without Wozniak, would have ever gotten things together.''''Messrs. Gates and Allen were widely thought by associates to have a warm relationship in the years since Mr. Allen, 58 years old, left Microsoft. Even Mr. Allen says Mr. Gates was one of his ''''most regular visitors'''' when Mr. Allen was recovering from chemotherapy two years ago from non-Hodgkin''''s lymphoma, describing him as ''''everything you''''d want from a friend, caring and concerned.''''Yet, in the book, Mr. Allen also reveals that his decision to leave Microsoft was prompted largely by his growing disenchantment with the behavior of Mr. Gates, whom he portrays as a confrontational taskmaster who clashed with Mr. Allen''''s low-key style. Past histories of Microsoft have said Mr. Allen''''s departure from the company was sparked by his first brush with cancer in 1982, when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin''''s disease.In that year, Mr. Allen says he eavesdropped on a discussion in the Microsoft offices in Bellevue, Wash., between Mr. Gates and Steve Ballmer, now the company''''s CEO, in which he heard the two men talking about Mr. Allen''''s recent lack of productivity and how they might dilute his equity in the company by issuing options to themselves and other shareholders. Mr. Allen said burst into the room and confronted Messrs. Gates and Ballmer, both of whom later apologized to him and backed down from their plan.''''I had helped start the company and was still an active member of management, though limited by my illness, and now my partner and my colleague were scheming to rip me off,'''' he says in the book. ''''It was mercenary opportunism, plain and simple.'''' A spokesman for Microsoft said Mr. Ballmer had no comment.Earlier efforts by Mr. Gates to whittle down his partner''''s stake in Microsoft were successful though, according to Mr. Allen. In the mid-1970s, when the two college drop-outs were based in New Mexico, Mr. Allen says Mr. Gates asked for 60% of their partnership because of his greater contributions to the creation of software for running the BASIC programming language on an early PC, the MITS Altair 8800.Mr. Allen says he had assumed that their partnership was evenly split, but he agreed to Mr. Gates'''' request.Several years later when Messrs. Gates and Allen established Microsoft as a formal partnership, Mr. Gates asked to change their respective shares in the business to a 64-36 split, a demand to which Mr. Allen again agreed. But in the early 1980s Mr. Gates rebuffed Mr. Allen after the latter man asked for an increase in his own Microsoft shares after his work on a successful Microsoft product called SoftCard, Mr. Allen writes.Mr. Allen was deeply disappointed in the response from Mr. Gates, whom he had known since Mr. Allen was a tenth grader and Mr. Gates was an eighth grader at a prestigious private school in Seattle.''''In that moment, something died for me,'''' Mr. Allen writes. ''''I''''d thought that our partnership was based on fairness, but now I saw that Bill''''s self-interest overrode all other considerations. My partner was out to grab as much of the pie as possible and hold on to it, and that was something I could not accept.''''Mr. Allen said he sucked it up and thought, ''''OK...but one day I''''m out of here,'''' the book says.Mr. Gates''''s attempts to lower Mr. Allen''''s stake in the company reflected concerns with Mr. Allen wasn''''t working hard enough and wasn''''t commitment to the company, say people familiar with the relationship. That was one reason, these people say, that Mr. Gates put a provision in their first partnership agreement that would allow him to buy out Mr. Allen if he thought there were ''''irreconcilable differences'''' between the two men.Mr. Allen mentions the agreement in the book, without saying why Mr. Gates inserted the clause.As Microsoft grew, it attracted more people like Mr. Gates who were single-mindedly focused on building Microsoft. They were willing to work around the clock, sleep in the office and battle each other over strategy and technical decisions. Mr. Allen, these people say, grew increasingly tired of that life and lagged the rest of group, they said. He gradually lost interest in remaining at the company. In the book, Mr. Allen says that fights with Mr. Gates took a toll on him. ''''My sinking morale sapped my enthusiasm for my work, which in turn could precipitate Bill''''s next attack,'''' he wrote. He noted that Mr. Gates tried to keep him at the company.Mr. Allen has spent the decades since his departure from Microsoft using his wealth to carve a somewhat whimsical path for himself. Many of his business investments, like the cable company Charter Communications, software company Asymetrix Corp. and set-top box maker Digeo Inc., have either flopped or fared poorly for him.Mr. Allen devotes portions of his book to investments like the Portland Trailblazers NBA franchise and the Seattle Seahawks NFL team. He finance the creation of rock n'''' roll and science fiction museums in Seattle designed by architect Frank Gehry, while he invested $100 million in 2003 to form a non-profit called the Allen Institute for Brain Science to study how brains work.Even before Microsoft made him wealthy, it appeared to people who knew him that Mr. Allen had broader interests than running a software business. David Bunnell, who worked in New Mexico in the 1970s with Messrs. Allen and Gates at the pioneering PC maker Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems, better known as MITS, said Mr. Allen was more passionate about music and culture than his business partner.''''He was more interested, in a broader sense, in the world,'''' Mr. Bunnell says. ''''I think Bill is more single-minded.'''' -By Nick Wingfield and Robert A. Guth