In 1994, in the immediate aftermath of the Nirvana-driven grunge signing boom, Warner Bros. paid $20 million for 49% of the Seattle label Sub Pop, an arrangement that still stands today. The person who brokered the deal was Dana Giacchetto, a star investment adviser who became as famous for throwing crazy parties with Leonardo DiCaprio as he was for his business acumen. Giacchetto eventually went to prison for fraud, and in a new Billboard profile, he looks back on his career and talks about the Sub Pop deal as one of his greatest triumphs. He also lets us in on some fascinating details of the deal. Here’s what he says:

I can now reveal that Universal was the top bidder, $25 million, but it wasn’t the right creative fit. Sony Music bid $5 million. David Geffen bid $8 million — I told him his bid was way too fucking low — and Microsoft bid a paltry $4 million, frankly insulting. Bill Gates, who at the time considered himself to be ‘the future of entertainment,’ couldn’t have been a more dull character. It definitely would have made Microsoft a bit more hip, which in hindsight might have actually made Microsoft a player in entertainment. They’re still not.”

(via Billboard)

That’s the shit to make your soul burn slow, Bill Gates. (Does Xbox count as entertainment? Because if it does, I’d say Microsoft is sort of a player in entertainment.)