Gates always was an asshole - nobody wanted to go to meetings with him because he was such a jerk. He set the example for the toxic nerd culture at Microsoft.

Gates always was an asshole - nobody wanted to go to meetings with him because he was such a jerk. He set the example for the toxic nerd culture at Microsoft. A lot of the people at Microsoft were great but a lot of the leaders from that era, especially those promoted from the tech ranks, were downright abusive. I left near the end of the Ballmer era so I haven't gotten to see how things have changed under Satya Nadella but I hear good things from my friends who still work there.