inignoct wrote: ] ] It may just be pocket change for the richest man in the ] ] world, but Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has been fined ] ] $800,000 by the federal government for violating an ] ] antitrust rule. ] ] ] ] ] ] ] The technical incident has nothing to do with the ] ] government's massive antitrust battles with Microsoft ] ] (MSFT: Research, Estimates). ] ] ] ] Gates, whose fortune has been estimated at more than $40 ] ] billion, ran afoul of the Federal Trade Commission and ] ] the Justice Department's Antitrust Division for his ] ] purchases of stock in a drug company and a waste-hauling ] ] firm. ] ] ] Doh ] ] [ Of course, if you do the ratio of $800k:$40B and then do ] $X:$your_net_worth, and solve for X this amounts to less than ] a parking ticket in relative terms. It's a lot of money, but ] fortunately for him, he has it, a lot. -k] True, true, but also keep in mind that since this is a fine and not actually garnishing of profits or something similar that this is 800,000 that could have gone to a charity. (where 800,000 would actually BE worth much more.) Just speculating, since I dont know how he runs his finacials, but still...there are multiple ways of seeing it. RE: Microsoft Gates fined $800,000 for antitrust violations - May. 3, 2004 |