The 16th Century prophet wrote nearly one thousand quatrains, small four line poems, in groups of 100, called Centuries. It is in Century 5, quatrain 75, that the prophet predicts the rise of Microsoft, and in particular, its leader, William Gates III.
Experts have determined that this set of verses refers to Bill Gate's ascension to power through the widespread adoption of the X-box gaming console, and the online X-box Live component.
A detailed analysis of the quatrain has been provided by Johanna Esperita, one of the researchers who has extensively studied Nostadamus' quatrains for a glimpse of future events. Translated from the original French:
He will rise high over the estate more to the right,
The estate "more to the right" clearly refers to Sony, the current market leader in the console gaming market with it's Playstation 2. At an unspecified date in the future, Microsoft's sales of the X-box will surpass those of the Playstation 2.
He will remain seated on the square stone,
The "square stone" is the X-box, the seat of Bill Gate's coming ascension to power.
Towards the south facing to his left,
Sitting on his throne in Redmond, Bill Gates will find the Justice Department of the United States Government, to the south and toward his left in Washington, D.C., powerless to stop his technological advances.
The crooked staff in his hand, his mouth sealed.
Experts have not been able to fully understand this line, although many believe the "crooked staff" to be the Internet, the backbone of which is shaped like a crooked staff, linking all of the cities in the United States under Gates' control.
"I do acknowledge that many prophecies of Nostradamus did not seem to come true," Esperita said at a conference in nearby Pamplona. "In fact, we believe it was not that the prophecies were false, but that the interpretations were incorrect. Many of the quatrains have been misinterpreted in the past, giving people the impression that Nostradamus was a fool, when it was really a foolish mistake of the translators."
Quatrain 75 of Century 5 does not specify the date of Microsoft's rise to power, but past events indicate that it will not be far off.
