Microsoft founder Bill Gates and self-made billionaire Mark Cuban no longer speak to each other, Cuban said in a podcast interview.
Cuban says he once told a joke at a conference that made Gates so “pissed off” that they never spoke to each other again.
The event came shortly after Cuban sold its Broadcast.com company in 1999 for €5.7 billion.
The two American self-made billionaires Bill Gates and Mark Cuban do not seem to have the friendliest relationship.
Mark Cuban hat im „Full Send“-Podcast talked about his relationship with the billionaire Microsoft co-founder who, according to Cuban, became “the king of the tech industry” after Microsoft went public in 1986.
Cuban and Gates have only met once, the 63-year-old said. The encounter made Gates “so angry” that they never spoke to each other again.
What happened?
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“He got so mad I haven’t spoken to him since”
Cuban says the encounter took place at a conference to which the two were invited to speak.
Bill Gates was scheduled to be the first speaker. Cuban says he told the conference organizers he was only attending because Bill Gates was speaking right in front of him. “So I go and say, ‘You know, I’m glad I sold my business. And finally, after all these years, Bill Gates is my opening act.”
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The joke didn’t go down well with Gates. “He got so mad that I haven’t spoken to him since, until today,” Cuban said.
Cuban said the event came right after the sale of his internet radio company Broadcast.com to Yahoo in 1999 for €5.7 billion. An insider inquiry to Bill Gates about the event went unanswered.
This article was translated from English by Leo Ginsburg. You can find the original here.
