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Epic Tech IPOs: Triumphs, a Travesty, and a Tragedy

Microsoft owner and founder Bill Gates poses outdoors with Microsoft's first laptop in 1986 at the new 40-acre corporate campus in Redmond, Washington
Microsoft owner and founder Bill Gates poses outdoors with Microsoft's first laptop in 1986 at the new 40-acre corporate campus in Redmond, WashingtonPhotograph by Joe McNally/Getty Images

A youngster with a disdain for wealth, distrustful of Wall Street bankers, suddenly scores millions of dollars for himself and his hacker friends. Ah, Bill Gates was quite the story back in 1986. As Facebook winds down its first day of trading, here’s a look back on the drama of some of tech’s other—sometimes eerily similar—classic IPOs.

Apple, Dec. 12, 1980