The Turn Of The Millennium: Things That Are Turning The Big 20

In Hot Water

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On May 18, the US filed a civil complaint alleging that Microsoft had engaged in anticompetitive conducts in violation of the Sherman Act. Then, a group of state plaintiffs filed a separate civil complaint alleging similar violations of the federal law.

Not long after filing, the two cases were consolidated and on April 3, 2000, Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson found Microsoft liable for violating the Sherman Act. Before the verdict, Bill Gates handed over the CEO position to Steve Ballmer, an old colleague of Gates, who had been employed by the company since 1980.