by , 12:00 PM EST, January 27th, 2004
OK kiddies, file this away in your, 'Now don't that beat all!' department: William H. Gates III, of Microsoft fame and fortune, will be knighted by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, for, "outstanding contribution to enterprise."
No kidding! Here's the Reuters News report, titled Bill Gates to be knighted by Queen Elizabeth:
Microsoft co-founder and chairman Bill Gates will be awarded an honorary knighthood by Britain's Queen Elizabeth for an outstanding contribution to enterprise, officials said on Monday.
Gates, the world's wealthiest man, will receive the award from the queen at Buckingham Palace, but no date has been set.
You can find the full article at Reuters News.
OK, we're certainly qualified to slam Mr. Gates, but we simply decided not to this time.
What we do find interesting is that while the British Royalty smiles upon Bill Gates, the more common folk seem to be at wit's end with him and Microsoft. Bill Gates is no stranger to Britain's legal and Parliamentary offices; in fact, the European Union, of which Britain is a member of, is still trying to put to bed the antitrust case it has against Microsoft.
It is true that Microsoft, under the guidance of its founder, has profoundly affected the world of computing as we know it today, and the effects have been both good and bad; and, of course, Her Majesty may bestow knighthood upon anyone she wishes, but...Bill Gates?
Note that we are not recommending Steve Jobs for knighthood; while he'd likely be tickled to get a Royal nod, we believe he'd be happy if Her Majesty would just download a few tunes and rock out on an iPod. (Maybe then she could convince the Beatles to sign on!).
Also note that due to British custom, it won't be Sir William Gates after he gets tapped on the shoulders; you have to be a subject of the Crown to use that title. So, no "Sir Bill." (At least there's that!)
Anyway, we here at TMO congratulate Mr. Gates on his impending knighthood.
We'd like to thank Taojones for alerting us to this story.
(Whew! We did it without snickering once.)