• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
TechData Sheet

Data Sheet—Why Bill and Melinda Gates Topped Fortune’s Greatest Leaders List

By
Aaron Pressman
Aaron Pressman
and
Adam Lashinsky
Adam Lashinsky
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Aaron Pressman
Aaron Pressman
and
Adam Lashinsky
Adam Lashinsky
Down Arrow Button Icon
April 18, 2019, 8:48 AM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

This is the web version of Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the top tech news. To get it delivered daily to your in-box, sign up here.

We interrupt our usual tech-industry programming today to bring you something mostly different, Fortune’s annual World’s Greatest Leaders list.

At the top is a former tech guy, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and his wife, Melinda. The Gateses have given away some $45 billion over the years to fight diseases like malaria, cholera, and tuberculosis. Fortune top editor Clifton Leaf, who wrote the cover story about their efforts, asked the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for an accounting of every grant it has made. “I got back a spreadsheet with 41,487 items,” Leaf reports. The spreadsheet undoubtedly was in Excel.

FOR0519 COVER
Photograph by Spencer Lowell
Photograph by Spencer Lowell

I encourage you to have a look at the whole list of leaders as well as Geoff Colvin’s masterful introduction, which focuses on the connection between leadership and “hardiness.” Despite Bill Gates being at the top, you won’t find a lot of tech leaders in this year’s ranking. Tim Cook, for leading his company into a new business model, and Masayoshi Son, for leading a reinvention of investing, are two.

I’ve long felt it is ironic that Gates eventually will be remembered as a canny and articulate philanthropist rather than as a ruthless and cunning technologist. The rest of the tech industry is pretty good at leading the way to making products that generate lots of profits but not much else. The greatness isn’t as apparent these days.

***

A quick note on Microsoft: Its newest Xbox won’t have a slot for discs. Young people undoubtedly will say “Duh!” to that, but it’s a big deal. Microsoft assumes most games will be downloaded or streamed. It’s also a reminder to add the software company to the list of would-be streamers—Disney, Apple, NBCUniversal, WarnerMedia, Google—who intend to join the fray soon.

***

Shares of IBM dipped 4% Wednesday after the technology behemoth reported declining revenue in its most recent quarter. What continues to amaze is how important IBM’s mainframe business remains. “Despite the chatter that ‘this time might be different,’” writes Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi, “the mainframe (and associated offerings) is proving once again to be a highly cyclical and important driver of IBM’s overall financials.” Mainframe revenue was down 11% year over year.

Adam Lashinsky
@adamlashinsky
adam_lashinsky@fortune.com

NEWSWORTHY

Good timing. Did I say yesterday that Pinterest and Zoom would debut on the stock market on Friday? I did–but today is the IPO day. Both deals were priced for their initial investors on Wednesday evening. Pinterest stock was set at $19, above the range the company had predicted, and Zoom went out at $36, also slightly above its pre-deal range. Our own Lucinda Shen has advice on what to follow once the stocks start trading later today. And as Uber nears its own IPO, the startup is looking to share the load of developing self-driving cars. Outside investors including SoftBank and Toyota could pump $1 billion into the effort.

Killing me softly. If voice-controlled apps are the future, Facebook doesn't want to be left out. The company is developing its own digital assistant to compete with the likes of Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa, CNBC reports. Microsoft already has a digital assistant, Cortana, named after a popular Xbox video game character. On Wednesday, in addition to the Xbox news Adam mentioned, Microsoft also unveiled the second generation of its Surface Hub computer. The PC with a 50-inch touch screen will sell for $9,000 starting in June.

Believing I had supernatural powers, I ran into a brick wall. After making little headway with Chinese shoppers, Amazon is closing its online store for the country. The company will continue other efforts there, including Amazon Web Services and its Kindle e-book store. In another deal related to China that went sour, Wisconsin's new governor, Tony Evers, says Foxconn isn't creating all the jobs promised and its subsidy and tax cuts package with his state needs to be revised.

Keep it secret, keep it safe. While most of Washington, D.C., focuses on some little report that's due out today, another battle is brewing over the detailed annual privacy reports that Facebook has to submit to the Federal Trade Commission. The Electronic Privacy Information Center is suing to make the reports public, but Facebook is seeking to keep them...private. Across town at the Federal Communications Commission, chair Ajit Pai signaled his agency will reject an application from China Mobile to become a "common carrier" for international voice calls between the United States and other countries. The request "raises substantial and serious national security and law enforcement risks," Pai said.

You're folding it wrong. A few of the reviewers of the Samsung Galaxy Fold managed to break the folding display within days of getting the device. Samsung says it is looking into the matter, but the removal of a protective sheath of plastic may be to blame.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Tencent’s WeChat is one of the so-called super apps of Asia. Growing beyond its messaging roots, the app lets users do everything from play online group games to make mobile payments at retail locations. The United States doesn’t exactly have any super apps-at least not yet. Dennis Schaal investigates for Skift how Google is expanding its super popular Maps app into super app territory. It’s a popular take, but some disagree:

Melanie Lee of Grab explained that superapps initially took off in China and Southeast Asia because most people didn’t have smartphones but wielded mobile phones with lower memory that couldn’t handle multiple apps deftly. A single app, such as WeChat in China or Grab in Southeast Asia, made a lot more sense, she added...”One of the things about Chinese people is that they love cluttered websites,” Lee said. “If you go to any website in China, a news website, it’s full of text. But to a Western audience that is ugly. Right? But that’s still the same way. That hasn’t changed. So I think user behavior is something that’s so difficult and so ingrained to kind of shift. It’s the same way if you look at Australia, where Fintech hasn’t caught on because credit cards are so ubiquitous. So I think the concept of having multiple apps installed in your phone and using them for different services like DoorDash for food, Uber Eats for delivery, I think that’s so ingrained. I don’t really see that changing.”

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Beyoncé Comes Home To Netflix By Ellen McGirt

Luci, a New VR Headset Company, Wants to Take You to the Movies By Lisa Marie Segarra

Is News Making You Anxious? This App May Help By Emily Price

Online Pirates Bring 'Game of Thrones' Season 8 Premiere Viewership to Eye-Popping Levels By Chris Morris

Airbnb Leads $160 Million Investment in Startup Designing Apartments for Travelers By Danielle Abril

Stripe Backs $40 Million Investment in A.I. Accounting Service Pilot By Jeff John Roberts

T-Mobile's No-Fee Checking Gets Big Marketing Push. Here's What You Need to Know By Aaron Pressman

BEFORE YOU GO

In a Venn diagram covering the intersection of our current pop cultural obsessions, you might find podcasts and HBO's final season of Game of Thrones in the center. So New York Magazine's Vulture blog has taken the helpful step of finding the 10 best podcasts about GoT (actually, they've updated a post from 2017, but who's counting?). I haven't listened to many yet but some of the title puns are awesome: A Storm of Spoilers and Arya Talking to Me? Too funny.

This edition of Data Sheet was curated by Aaron Pressman. Find past issues, and sign up for other Fortune newsletters.

About the Authors
By Aaron Pressman
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
By Adam Lashinsky
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

How foodservice giant Sodexo is embracing AI and robotics to reshape the kitchen
NewslettersCIO Intelligence
How foodservice giant Sodexo is embracing AI and robotics to reshape the kitchen
By John KellJuly 1, 2026
11 hours ago
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei
AIAnthropic
Anthropic’s AI models are back online after a two-week government standoff—settling the company and administration into a fragile truce
By Tristan BoveJuly 1, 2026
12 hours ago
Nikesh Arora, chief executive officer at Palo Alto Networks
SuccessJobs
CEO of $248 billion cybersecurity company says workers are about to face a ‘Darwinian moment’ thanks to AI: Evolve or get cut
By Emma BurleighJuly 1, 2026
13 hours ago
Current price of Ethereum for July 1, 2026
Personal FinanceEthereum
Current price of Ethereum for July 1, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 1, 2026
15 hours ago
In this photo illustration, a Cisco logo is displayed on a smartphone with Artificial Intellingence (AI) symbols in the background.
AICFO Daily
Cisco is rolling out AI agents to every single one of its 90,000 employees
By Sheryl EstradaJuly 1, 2026
16 hours ago
senate
CommentaryCongress
One rare bipartisan AI bill is moving through Congress. Here’s why it deserves to pass
By Neil Björkman and Betsy BrewerJuly 1, 2026
17 hours ago

Most Popular

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
Big Tech
As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 1, 2026
21 hours ago
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
7 days ago
The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
Newsletters
The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
By Diane BradyJuly 1, 2026
19 hours ago
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
Success
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
By Preston ForeJune 27, 2026
5 days ago
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 1, 2026
15 hours ago
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
Success
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
By Sydney LakeJune 29, 2026
3 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.