Robert Kimball, general counsel of Seattle-based RealNetworks, has two extraordinary accomplishments on his r?(C)sum?(C). The first is that he played football for the University of Michigan as a defensive back under Bo Schembechler. This storied football program has produced such NFL standouts as Dan Dierdorf, Charles Woodson and Tom Brady. One of Kimball’s responsibilities on the team was to cover future Pro Bowl receiver Anthony Carter during practice. “He scored a lot of touchdowns against me,” Kimball says.
His second accomplishment is that he took on Microsoft and won. In 2003 RealNetworks sued Microsoft for $1 billion for allegedly using its operating system to crush rivals in the digital media space. After being engaged in a bitter battle with Microsoft’s lawyers for three years, Kimball and his team convinced Bill Gates to settle the case for a whopping $761 million.
