Re: Did everyone see this?

[Tesla Coil <tescoil@irtc.net>]

 On 21 Dec 2000, Jay Link wrote
> Student hacker blames teacher
> By Nick Provenza
> Seattle Times assistant metro editor

Another item from today's edition of the same paper...

Gates, Allen lose billions in market
by Stephen H. Dunphy -- Seattle Times business columnist

Poor Bill Gates.

The Microsoft founder chairman has suffered a paper loss 
of $56 billion - more than the gross domestic product of 
Bangladesh - since the crash of his company's stock after
the announcement that its profits and revenues would be
 much lower this quarter.

At the end of last year, Gates' holdings stood at about 
$87.2 billion. With the stock now trading around $43 a 
share, his stock is worth a paltry $31.2 billion.

Microsoft workers say stock-ticker readers that used to 
run in company buildings, showing everybody how rich they
were getting, have been turned off.

Co-founder Paul Allen suffered a similar fate, seeing his 
holding drop from $17.9 billion to $6.4 billion in the 
past year.  Microsoft hit a 52-week high of $119.94 last
Dec. 30.

Before you start feeling sorry for these guys, remember they
have both taken billions of dollars out of the company in the
form of earlier sales of their stock.  Gates has given more 
than $15 billion to his foundation.

Allen continues to invest in other companies, sports teams 
and Seattle real estate.

The Gateses and the Allens are not alone. Like the Grinch
that stole the bull market, entrepreneurs, chief executives
and top shareholders are seeing their holdings slip away,
changing them from fabulously wealthy billionaires to mere
mortal millionaires. Take Naveen Jain, the founder of InfoSpace,
an Internet company that has seen its stock price cut by more
than 85 percent this year.

At its top this year at about $130 a share in March, Jain was
worth about $8.5 billion. With the stock trading these days
about $6.38, his wealth has slipped to $419 million, a paper 
loss of about $8.1 billion.

With many of the dot-coms becoming dot-bombs, those who are
left in the industry are feeling the pinch.  Jeff Bezos of 
Amazon.com was a billionaire last Christmas when his company's
stock hit a high of $102 a share.  That made his holdings 
worth about $5.99 billion.

Now the stock is trading at $15 a share - it hit a 52-week low
Wednesday - pushing Bezos' holdings below $1 billion at $880.5
million.  You've got to feel for the guy.  A family trust with 
9 million shares suffered a similar fate, slipping from nearly
billionaire status at $918 million last year to a Scrooge-like
$135 million.

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