I'm not sure that Gates is being blasé about this -- I watched the 6 p.m. press conference and I was struck by the fact that Gates was very heavily made up. He's usually not. Someone must have said to him, "Bill, you look pale and need to be touched up," which suggests that he had a much stronger reaction than he was letting on.
Personalities like Rockefeller and Gates are like religious fundamentalists -- they are total belief systems, which is why they are good motivators. The company is the expression of that religion; and fundamentalists are not prone to compromise. The more you attack them the more defensive they become.
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