Why Did Bill Gates Stare at Philippe Kahn's Photo?

David Senra reads that Bill Gates was staring at a photograph of Philippe Kahn, the rival he had spent years trying to get rid of. In the mid-1980s, Kahn's company, Borland, was blowing Microsoft away with Turbo Pascal. Meetings at Microsoft became known as the Borland War Councils, where Gates and his staff plotted how to beat Kahn. Senra reads that Gates walked into one meeting, threw Kahn's picture down on the table, and asked how to get rid of him. They passed out T-shirts that read "Delete Philippe."

At an industry conference in the late 1980s, Kahn found Gates sitting alone in a corner, looking at a photograph. Senra reads Kahn's recollection that the picture was of Kahn himself. Senra calls it one of his favorite Bill Gates stories, and the craziest story in the book he is reading. A burning desire to win, and a fear of failure, compelled Gates not only to beat competitors, but to destroy them.