On Microsoft’s 50th Birthday, founder Bill Gates shares the ‘Washington mistake’ he made

Microsoft is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month, and co-founder Bill Gates sat down with current CEO Satya Nadella. Among all the conversations, he opened up about one critical misstep during the company’s early days when Gates himself was the CEO, and that was underestimating the importance of government relations.

“You know, I might tell my younger self, watch out for the government,” Gates said during a recent podcast featuring all three CEOs who have led Microsoft throughout its half-century history. “I was pretty naive about not engaging in Washington, DC, as soon as I should have.”