&gt; he earned every dollar<p>bullshit. People get rich on the unpaid labor of others. If nothing else, he would have less money if microsoft didn&#x27;t participate in the anti-poaching scandal. It&#x27;s clearly not his fault, but he got money because his corporation didn&#x27;t pay market wages.<p><i>edit</i><p>This is, perhaps, a little harsh. I don&#x27;t think he&#x27;s a villain. I&#x27;ve never met the man, but i&#x27;m sure he&#x27;s a decent guy. But you have to admit, his net worth is not a perfect reckoning of the value he created in the world. He&#x27;s rich. good for him. Some of that money came from him, as an owner, colluding to not pay fair wages. This is just the most recent example. There was the whole temp workers thing. Microsoft has a fairly shady history.