Microsoft chief Bill Gates, the college dropout turned world’s richest man, admits that his own tireless work ethic made him one of the world’s most difficult men to work for.
“I was quite fanatical about work. I worked weekends, I didn’t really believe in vacations. I had to be a little careful not to try and apply my standards to how hard they worked,” he said in an interview on BBC 4 radio’s “Desert Island Discs.” That fanaticism led to him tracking the comings and goings of employees, so he could monitor just how much midnight oil they were burning. “You know, I knew everyone’s license plates so I could look out in the parking lot and see, when did people come in, when were they leaving,” he said. “Eventually I had to loosen up, as the company got to a reasonable size.”
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