His departure will leave Microsoft with only three senior people from the team that led the company in the early 1980's.
Despite this, the settlement clearly leaves Microsoft with a lot of advantages.
Charter is the biggest of his investments since he left Microsoft in 1983.
The case for leaving Microsoft alone does not rest on some naive faith in the perfection of free markets.
He left Microsoft in 1988 and dedicated most of his time to philanthropy.
That leaves Microsoft in a position once again to use its monopoly power to stop potential challengers.
Letwin left Microsoft in 1993 to "kick back" with his wife.
None of these have left Microsoft with a position in television that is even slightly similar to its chokehold on computers.
In 1980, she and her husband, Steve, became the first of those 11 to leave Microsoft.
"To get these low prices you had to sell your soul and never leave Microsoft."