It is not Bill Gates but Steve Ballmer who did this. Maybe they were redundant employees. A loss of any job is crappy but a MSFT job on a resume is a nice touch to an interviewer.
Ballmer: Damn them and the Developers! PROFIT MARGIN! PROFIT MARGIN! PROFIT MARGIN! PROFIT MARGIN! PROFIT MARGIN! PROFIT MARGIN! PROFIT MARGIN! PROFIT MARGIN! ;)