Bill Gates Facing Conduct Allegations Amid Divorce
NEW YORK— Board members at Microsoft Corp. made a decision
in 2020 that it wasn’t appropriate for its co-founder Bill Gates to continue
sitting on its board as they investigated the billionaire’s prior romantic
relationship with a female Microsoft employee that was deemed inappropriate,
according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
Citing unnamed sources, The Journal reported online Sunday
that board members looking into the matter hired a law firm in late 2019 to
conduct an investigation after a Microsoft engineer alleged in a letter that
she had a sexual relationship with Gates over several years.
The Journal reported that Gates resigned before the board’s
investigation was finished, citing another person familiar with the matter.
An unnamed spokeswoman for Gates acknowledged to The Journal
that there was an affair almost 20 years ago, and that it ended “amicably.” The
spokesperson told The Journal that “his decision to transition off the board
was in no way related to this matter.””
When he left Microsoft’s board last year, Gates said he was
stepping down to focus on philanthropy.
In an email sent to The Associated Press late Sunday,
Microsoft said that it “received a concern in the latter half of 2019 that Bill
Gates sought to initiate an intimate relationship with a company employee in
the year 2000. A committee of the Board reviewed the concern, aided by an
outside law firm, to conduct a thorough investigation. Throughout the investigation,
Microsoft provided extensive support to the employee who raised the concern.”
Earlier this month, Bill and Melinda Gates announced that
they were divorcing after 27 years of marriage but would keep working together
at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the largest charitable
foundations in the world. Gates was formerly the world’s richest person and his
fortune is estimated at well over $100 billion.
Earlier Sunday, The New York Times reported that Gates had
developed “a reputation for questionable conduct in work-related settings.”
The Times reported that on at least a few occasions, Gates
made overtures to women who worked for him at Microsoft and the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation. The Times cited people with direct knowledge of his
behavior.
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