In 1998, Bill Gates was sued by Clinton's Department of Justice for software monopoly. Microsoft was accused of violating the Sherman Act law and was threatened by the Clinton government with huge fine and breaking up of the company. The antitrust suit was a wake up call for the billionaire and the rest of big corporate America. In 1911, John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil was broken up by United States Supreme Court when it was sued by the government and won. In 1998, it happened again.
In the beginning, Bill Gates did not believe in lobbying. He took pride in having "no presence" in Washington D.C. as he claimed Microsoft thrived during their first 16 years without being involved with politics. In 1995, his first lobbyist was Jack Krumholtz, holed in a tiny room at Chevy Chase sales office with no secretary and a $16,000 budget. During the Clinton lawsuit, Bill Gates shelled out money and defended himself by hiring the best lobby firm in D.C.
Bill Gates realized leaving Washington D.C. alone doesn't mean it will do the same thing to you. From that paltry sum of $16,000 lobbying budget in 1995, today Microsoft makes sure they have a tent set up on K Street, the lobby district, of Washington D.C. with a budget of $8.09 million last 2012, an increase from $7.34 million in 2011.
In 1998, total lobby spending was $1.4 billion with 10,408 total number of lobbyists. Last year, the spending was $2.4 billion with 12,057 lobbyists. In 2009, spending reached $3.5 billion, the highest number so far but they expected an increase lobby activity this 2013 in preparation for the Obamacare implementation starting next year. Government threat to private America will always provide a boom to K Street lobby district of Washington D.C. and when Washington is for sale, money is the only solution in winning the game.
Copyright 2013 Ketchie V. Schauf
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