When I heard the (fake) story, it went like this: IBM offered to buy DOS first, but Gates & Allen rejected it. Gates, being an acquaintance of Gary Kildall, to

When I heard the (fake) story, it went like this: IBM offered to buy DOS first, but Gates & Allen rejected it. Gates, being an acquaintance of Gary Kildall, told them to give Digital Research a try. He phoned Gary and said, playfully "They're coming for you next". Gary took this to mean someone was coming for him, and jumped in his plane and left. When IBM showed up, he was mysteriously missing, and everyone involved was confused. Usually truth is stranger than fiction, but in this case I think the fiction above is hilarious and top-notch alternate history.