Truly hilarious PR from der Gates

[David Reed <david@newsindex.co.uk>]

this was front page in todays (UK) Guardian


30/12/98 USA: GATES OPENS UP, VIRTUALLY.
By Julian Borger in Washington.
WITH his wunderkind gloss tarnishing rapidly under the pressure of an
anti-trust trial and a string of hostile biographies, Bill Gates has
embarked on an image-building blitz donating millions to good causes,
waxing lyrical on fatherhood and generally doing spontaneous,
regular-guy, things.
But when you're the richest man in the world, with controlling
tendencies, even moments of joyful spontaneity sometimes have to be
carefully scripted. It is not cheap.
Take Mr Gates's autumn break this year, when he took a few dozen friends
by rail across Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. When the party stopped at
a restaurant, a couple of rowdy strangers joined in uninvited and
proceeded to poke fun at the computer-geek.
"Hey, aren't you that computer guy Steve Jobs?" they asked Mr Gates
playfully, according to yesterday's Washington Post, deliberately
confusing the Microsoft chairman with his former rival, the founder of
Apple Computers.
The invited guests laughed, nervously, at the impertinence of it all. It
was only yesterday revealed that the chappies were actually actors,
hired to provide some impromptu entertainment. Mr Gates even gave them
strict instructions on what to say and do.
It was the most bizarre episode in a carefully-managed trip. Mr Gates's
guests, including America's second richest man - Warren Buffet - were
transported across the Rockies in a private train, triggering complaints
from rail travellers whose journeys were held up to allow the express to
thunder by.
At each stop, advance teams and bodyguards shuttled the holidaymakers to
restaurants and resorts. In return for the fun, the guests were required
to sign confidentiality agreements.
The multi-millionaire Harvard drop-out has built the ultimate controlled
environment for his family in a #37m lakeside mansion near Microsoft's
Seattle headquarters. An advanced electronic system adjusts lighting,
music and air-conditioning as he moves around the house, while a
touch-sensitive pad allows his two-year-old daughter, Jennifer, to
conjure up any song or film scene within 30 seconds.
GUARDIAN 30/12/1998 P1