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Bill Gates's mother helps Microsoft win its pivotal IBM deal
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One of the most consequential moments in Microsoft's rise came through Bill Gates's mother, Mary Maxwell Gates, a prominent civic leader who served on the national board of United Way alongside IBM chairman John Opel. In 1980, as IBM sought an operating system for its first personal computer, Mary's acquaintance with Opel helped put tiny, five-year-old Microsoft on IBM's radar; Opel reportedly referenced the company 'run by Bill Gates, Mary Gates's son.' Microsoft won the deal to supply what became MS-DOS — the foundation of its decades-long dominance.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/05/how-bill-gates-mother-influenced-the-success-of-microsoft.html
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