4 ms·
What if... > After Microsoft objected to Brock's "exaggerated interpretation" of the agreement and informed Brock that his license was nontransferable, Brock s
by ffhhj 5y ago
What if...
> After Microsoft objected to Brock's "exaggerated interpretation" of the agreement and informed Brock that his license was nontransferable, Brock sued for US$60 million. The ensuing lawsuit was highly technical and grew to fill hundreds of pages in the months leading up to trial. The trial began at the end of 1986 and lasted three weeks. An out-of-court settlement was reached while the jury was deliberating. Microsoft paid SCP US$925,000 and reclaimed its license for DOS.
Wow! $60M would have killed the 80's version of MicroSoft.
- cmrdporcupine 5y agoAnd imagine if Brock had settled for $925,000 worth of MSFT instead of cash. MSFT was $0.10 at IPO in 1986 (accounting for splits, actual price was $21 pre-split) , so he'd have had about 9.5 million shares (after all splits). If he'd kept the stock, it'd be worth $2.9 billion now. Not including any dividends. EDIT: Also, clearly the "$60M" was not a number conjured out of thin air. That's basically Microsoft's market cap at IPO. Suppose Brock was fundamentally trying to make the point that MS's entire financial success had been built off of this deal.
- WalterBright 5y agoI wish I could tell my past self to buy MSFT!