I think that's a bit of an insult to Bill Gates, and his ilk...I agree with you that HMY would be a great risk and a likely poor investment, at the the very least it would be a bad time to start up again...
BUT, the loss they had the first time CAME FROM AN INDIVIDUAL! Drop in the pan. Think about that; the accumulated loss on HMY probably equivalent to your beer fund, in relative terms.
Bad investment? Yes. Maybe. But a crippling blow to the play money of the HMY family? not even close. Food for thought. The write-off is minor, to these guys.
Believe it.