Bill Gates kept Apple alive when it should have died in the 80s/90s. Why did Bill Gates to that? Because Apple was the only tech company that would be called a "competitor" and without the Apple "competitor" Windows would be broken up. So all you Apple lovers need to thank Bill Gates and Windows for keeping you on life support in late 80's early 90's.
No, he didn't. This canard is false. Apple was past the crises when Microsoft settled a lawsuit that Apple had brought against it for infringing Apple patents and copyrights of QuickTime. The judge in the case had told Microsoft they were going to lose big time. Microsoft was under heavy scrutiny from the Department of Justice for restraint of trade and monopolistic practices and did not want a public trial with the very anti-competitive practices.
Steve Jobs approached Microsoft with a proposal to end the issues because he wanted to clear the table for Apple as well as he took control. He proposed a settlement.
Microsoft PAID Apple to settle the lawsuit that could have run into the multiple BILLIONS of dollars had it gone to trial. Instead, Microsoft, to save face would buy $150 million for non-voting Apple five year restricted Preferred stock, re-issue and continue developing Microsoft Office for Mac for those five years, License from Apple the in-suit patents and copyrights for a further undisclosed royalties for five years only, and license to Apple for the life the life of the patents and copyrights at no cost many of Microsoft's intellectual properties of copyrights and patents.
In exchange for all that, Apple would issue a $5 piece of fancy paper (the stock certificate), grant the in-suit licenses, agree to package Microsoft Internet Explorer with every new Mac for five years along with Netscape Navigator, and drop the lawsuit with prejudice and in addition drop all other possible causes of action against Microsoft that Apple might have. Do you see the imbalance? That's because there is none. Microsoft got more than quid quo pro in the dropping of the lawsuit.
These agreements were outlined in three interlocking contracts that were filed with the court. . . and were unsealed around seven years later. All of them were contingent on the sale of the non-voting stock. A company that is bailing out another does not buy non-voting stock. . . they get voting stock and one or two seats on the Board of Directors. They especially do not get RESTRICTED stock which they cannot sell for a specified time. Forensic accountants have looked at both companies' books and have concluded that those "future royalties" came to as much as $2 billion over the five years of the agreement. . . and funded much of Apple's R&D for the iPod and future iPad and iPhone.
As I stated, at the time of the so-called "bailout", Apple had over $2 .4 Billon in cash and liquid assets, had gone though two profitable quarters, each greater than the previous, and including buying NeXT from Steve Jobs for a combination of cash and stock.
Ergo, Jpsb, there simply was no bailout, no "saving of Apple", no Bill Gates as a white knight. And Apple pulled itself out of its problems.