Looks more like an example of why Microsoft succeeded in spite of its management. I guess when you're milking a monopolistic cash cow with crappy products, you really don't need good management.
Think about it. The CEO comes into a meeting with 6 levels of management and proceeds to treat his people like children by acting like a child himself and "teaching them a lesson".
I wonder what Mike Conte, Chris Graham, Pete Higgins, and Mike Maples were thinking during this charade.
With 6 levels of management, you'd think that the CEO would focus of the big picture, set the course, and trust his people to do their jobs.
Perhaps the best evidence that Bill Gates was too busy bullying and micromanaging was the book he wrote 3 years after this meeting, "The Road Ahead," which never even mentioned the word "internet". Imagine, the CEO of a multi-billion dollar technology company who didn't see the internet in 1994.
There are stories of him being upset with having to write that book because it made him take his eye off the ball. I always wondered what ball he was talking about. Thanks to Joel, now we know.