Mama Gates (Bill Gates)

In the early days of Microsoft, Bill Gates was so focused on his work that instead of hiring a secretary, he practically hired a mother. Her name was Miriam Lubow.

“Miriam adopted a motherly solicitousness toward her abstracted young boss, setting up barbering appointments, make sure his hair was combed, straightening his tie. She fretted over his erratic sleeping habits-arriving for work she would find him curled up on the floor after a hard night at the terminal – and his tendency to skip meals. ‘I would buzz him and say, “Bill, you know it’s way past one-thirty. I think your people would like to have lunch.” And he’d say oh, thank you, and they would traipse out to lunch. Be he was oblivious to that.’”(1)

While others lived a life, Bill Gates lived his dream. It was his total focus and dedication to his mission that made Microsoft what it is today.

(1)Stephen Manes and Paul Andrews, Gates (New York: Touchstone, 1994), p.117.

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