The Day Microsoft Saved Its Greatest Enemy

August 6, 1997. Boston’s Macworld Expo.

Apple is dying. Stock price collapsed from $70 to $4. The company has maybe 90 days of cash left. Everyone knows Steve Jobs returned to save Apple, but nobody believes he can pull off a miracle.

Then something impossible happens.

A giant screen descends. Bill Gates appears via satellite link from Seattle. The crowd of Apple fanatics starts booing. These people hate Microsoft with religious passion.

Gates raises his hand and waves. The booing gets louder.

Then he drops the bombshell. Microsoft will invest $150 million in Apple stock. Microsoft will continue making Office for Mac for five more years. Internet Explorer becomes the default Mac browser. The crowd goes silent. Then confused applause starts. Steve Jobs stands next to the giant screen showing his biggest rival. The man who supposedly stole everything from Apple is now saving Apple.

Why would Gates do this? Apple posed zero threat. Apple was almost finished.

The Real Game

Gates wasn’t being charitable. He was playing chess while everyone else played checkers.

Problem number one was the US government. They were building an antitrust case against Microsoft. The core argument was simple. Microsoft had a monopoly on operating systems. If Apple died completely, that argument became unbeatable. Microsoft would be the only game in town.

But if Apple stayed alive, Gates could point to them in court. “Look judge, competition exists. Consumers have choices. We’re not a monopoly.” The $150 million was the cheapest insurance policy Gates ever bought.

Problem number two was business sense. Microsoft Office for Mac made serious money. Dead Macs meant dead revenue streams. Keeping Apple breathing meant keeping those profits flowing.

Problem number three was legal warfare. Apple and Microsoft were drowning in lawsuits. GUI disputes dating back to the 1980s. Video codec battles. Patent fights. A peace treaty saved both companies millions in legal fees and management attention.

The Beautiful Irony

Jobs positioned this perfectly. He didn’t frame it as Apple begging for help. He called it mutual benefit. Apple needed Office. Microsoft needed Apple to exist. Both companies got what they wanted. Apple got breathing room. Microsoft got legal cover and continued profits.

The crowd that booed Gates didn’t understand the game. They thought this was about technology. It was actually about power dynamics and strategic thinking. Gates kept his enemy alive because dead enemies create problems. Live but controlled enemies solve problems.

The Political Mirror

This exact same logic plays out in Indian politics today. Why doesn’t Modi crush opposition leaders caught in corruption scandals? Why do these cases drag on forever without conclusions? Same reason Gates saved Apple.

A completely destroyed opposition creates a vacuum. That vacuum will get filled by something. Maybe something worse for Modi than the current known quantities. Better to keep familiar enemies breathing than face unknown challengers.

The Z-plus security given to opposition leaders is Modi’s version of Gates’ $150 million. It keeps them alive and relevant enough to prove democracy functions. But weak enough to never threaten real power.

The corruption cases are like those old Microsoft-Apple lawsuits. They can be settled anytime the opposition decides to surrender completely.

Look at Prannoy Roy. Finally he chose submission. Handed over NDTV and moved to his private island in Africa. Suddenly all prosecution stopped. The choice is clear. Kiss the ring and find peace. Stay defiant and live with permanent legal battles.

The Deeper Principle

Nature abhors a vacuum. Politics abhors it even more. Smart power doesn’t destroy enemies. It domesticates them. Your mercy becomes their cage. Your protection becomes their leash.

The opposition gets to exist. They prove the system works. But they exist on your terms, serving your narrative.

This is the Microsoft Doctrine applied to governance. Keep your enemies breathing, but make sure they breathe only the air you provide.

Gates waved at that crowd in 1997 knowing he’d just guaranteed Microsoft’s dominance for the next decade. The cheering Apple fans didn’t realize they were celebrating their own controlled captivity.

Sometimes the greatest victory looks exactly like mercy.