Bill Gates says Mark Zuckerberg "must" for DC's advice

Bill Gates declares that Mark Zuckerberg owes him valuable advice to the co-founder of Facebook, co-founder of Microsoft.

Gates, who has become a bit of a mentor and role model for Zuckerberg, both in business and philanthropy, has advised his Harvard colleagues to pay attention to the opinions of lawmakers, according to a profile released Monday by the New Yorker. It was a painful lesson that Gates had learned 20 years ago when the federal government accused the software giant of monopolistic behavior.

Gates told Congress that "the computer software industry is not down and there is no need to repair it." But the Justice Department was not impressed by Gates' testimony and in a matter of months, it sued Microsoft for antitrust violations, leading to years of legal disputes and near the breakup of his business.

Gates told the New Yorker that he regretted the "scoffers" of regulators and encouraged Zuckerberg to care about the events in Washington.

"I said," Get an office out there – now, "said Gates." And Mark did it and he owes me. "

Gates's board apparently paid for Zuckerberg in April when Facebook's CEO was called to report the non-confidentiality of data at home. Facebook is a big, often secretive company that many have trouble understanding, and Congress has played with the idea of ​​regulating Facebook and other social media networks.

Although many questions were asked by some of the most advanced senators, Zuckerberg patiently and respectfully answered questions about how Facebook earns money and the Internet.

Zuckerberg's appearance was widely regarded as a victory for Facebook, which could explain why the company spent more than $ 11.5 million on lobbying in Congress last year.

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Cambridge Analytica: Everything you need to know about the data mining scandal on Facebook.

iHate: CNET looks at how intolerance takes over the Internet.