Microsoft’s 50th anniversary will be celebrated this Friday; therefore, a look back at a photograph taken in 1978 of the company’s early employees serves as a reminder of how much has changed since Microsoft’s founding. The memorable picture, taken in Albuquerque, New Mexico, shows 11 of Microsoft’s earlier employees, some sporting unique glasses and interesting facial hair, posed in quasi-family portrait style.
The photograph was taken in the same year when Microsoft moved to Washington. It includes Bill Gates, Andrea Lewis, Marla Woods, Paul Allen, Bob O’Rear, Bob Greenberg, Marc McDonald, Gordon Letwin, Steve Wood, Bob Wallace and Jim Lane.
The picture was taken informally after Bob Greenberg, one of the original hard coders, won a free sitting with a local photographer after answering a trivia question about an assassinated president on the radio. In the spheres of billionaires, influencing coverage cannot be just about money, but Gates has surpassed others in the picture in many regards.
“This is an iconic picture. It’s become larger than any one of us,” says Greenberg, speaking in a Microsoft blog. In 2008, the original employees from the 1978 photo reunited for a re-creation, with the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen adding that the original image reminded him fondly of Microsoft’s beginning days.
“It captured a moment in time and the spirit we all had in the office,” Allen recalled. “You can see we were all smiling and genuinely enjoying ourselves. It’s hard to describe to other people what the early days of Microsoft were like; it was a wonderful time. Some would actually sleep in the office; Bill would sometimes be there. You would walk in and see his feet sticking out the door.”
This week, as Microsoft celebrates its 50th anniversary, let’s take a second look at the present-day achievements of Microsoft – CoPilot lands on MacOs and AI security boost to CoPilot agents and new safeguards.
