[tedggh]

How much did Bill Gates pay for Bliss?

ChatGPT:

“Microsoft paid photographer Charles O’Rear a confidential amount for the Windows XP wallpaper “Bliss,” but it is widely reported to have been in the “low six figures,” meaning over $100,000.”

Charles should have asked for MS stock instead.

“In 2005, Facebook offered David Choe about $60,000 to paint murals at its office. Instead of cash, he chose Facebook stock. When Meta Platforms went public in 2012, his shares were estimated to be worth around $200 million.”

[hyperific]

https://stopcitingai.com/

[bombcar]

MS was public at that time, he could have bought some directly.

[butlike]

The wikipedia says Microsoft acquired full rights after Bill Gate's Corbis acquired the photographers company, so that is a complete forgery/hallucination?

[zamadatix]

The Wikipedia article seems to say the same as above:

> O'Rear made it available as a stock photo through Westlight, which was bought by Bill Gates' Corbis in May 1998.[36][43] The photograph was initially titled Bucolic Green Hills.[42][44] By the time of its acquisition, Westlight was estimated to have been one of the largest stock photo agencies in the United States. Corbis had previously hired O'Rear to photograph wine auctions in Burgundy in 1995,[45] and after the acquisition, they digitized Westlight's images.[36] Microsoft contacted O'Rear through Corbis in 2000, wanting to buy full rights to the photograph.[40]: 3:37, 3:50 [6] O'Rear had to personally deliver the film to Microsoft in Seattle due to delivery services declining because of its high value. The Napa Valley Register reported that O'Rear was paid "in the low six figures".[6][40]: 3:57 He had signed a confidentiality agreement and cannot disclose the exact amount.[2][46] Microsoft renamed the photograph to Bliss and chose it as the default wallpaper of Windows XP.[6][37]