MICROSOFT chairman and all-round guru Mr William Gates III might be America's richest man, but I don't recall him ever having been polled that country's most eligible bachelor.
And he has missed his chance now, having become engaged to an underling Microsoft marketing manager by the name of Ms Melinda French.
News of last week's engagement apparently spread like wildfire in suitably paperless fashion.
Reports quoted Microsoft employees as saying the word of the pending nuptials made the fastest E-mail in the company's history.
Apparently, Ms French sent a single electronic mail message with the news to a colleague, which was copied and broadcast to other employees. It didn't take long before news was carried across E-mail systems outside of the company and across the country.
The engagement has prompted a rash of ''Bill stories'', with the industry swapping favourite eccentricities. (See story on page 10.) THE search for a replacement for IBM chief executive Mr John Akers during the past couple of months was, perhaps, the biggest head-hunting job in the history of the world.
It provoked unprecedented speculation, gossip and rumour across the industry, to say nothing of the soul-searching within IBM.