IBM's PC division floundered for years after the PCjr proved too expensive and its new OS was nothing compared to Windows, allowing Lenovo to buy IBM in 2004.
Bill Gates mother was on a charity board with with the IBM CEO at the time, which is the only reason Microsoft got the contract IIRC, cause she used her connections to push for it
I think the OP can be understood to mean “how MS came to be as successful as it was, as quickly as it was.”
Without assistance from IBM they’d likely be nothing.
Bill Gates mother was on a charity board with with the IBM CEO at the time, which is the only reason Microsoft got the contract IIRC, cause she used her connections to push for it