Bill Gates is one of the world's richest men and Microsoft is one of the world's most profitable business empires. Pride Before the Fall describes how the companies that Gates tried to bully or destroy (Netscape, Apple, Sun Microsystems, and even Intel) worked behind the scenes to help bring Gates and his company down. Based on extensive interviews with Gates, the then Assistant Attorney General, Joel Klein; Andy Grove, Chairman of Intel and other key players; it reveals the untold story behind the headlines. The book ventures deep into Gates' private world - from computer geek to one of the most powerful and unassailable men on the planet. In 1993, he said I have as much power as the president. Only five years later he burst into tears in a Microsoft board meeting - the whole thing is crashing in on me, it's all crashing in. Heilemann also examines the lasting damage that the trial has inflicted on the first great empire of the new economy, and the impact that Microsoft's appeal will have on the rules that govern competition in America in the new millennium.