Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975. Building a software company around personal computers gives him a stronger platform-building case than Ford’s manufacturing model. In 1999, a US court found Microsoft had monopoly power in Intel-compatible PC operating systems; this is a company finding, not a personal criminal conviction.

He takes second because Jobs wins our final tie-break: coherent consumer products over platform breadth. Reverse them if software used across many manufacturers matters most. Scale establishes the case; it does not erase how that scale was defended.

Sources: Company history · Court findings.

Photo: Kjetil Ree · CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized/compressed; source status retained.