The hits just keep on comin’ for Microsoft founder Bill Gates amid his increasingly contentious divorce from wife Melinda Gates.
This time, two new reports published in major newspapers on Sunday allege the computer whiz reportedly sought out affairs with other Microsoft employees two decades ago on multiple occasions.
Related: Bill Had Reportedly Been Telling Friends For A Long Time That His Marriage Was ‘Loveless’
According to the New York Times, Gates “pursued women” within the company and his foundation in the early 2000s. The tech giant eventually opened an investigation into his alleged behavior in 2019, as the Times reported (below):
“On at least a few occasions, Mr. Gates pursued women who worked for him at Microsoft and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, according to people with direct knowledge of his overtures. In 2019, Microsoft’s board of directors opened an investigation into one of those cases after being notified that he had ‘sought to initiate an intimate relationship with a company employee in the year 2000,’ a Microsoft spokesman said on Sunday. The following year, Mr. Gates stepped down from Microsoft’s board.”
Hmmm…
According to details published by both the NYT and the Wall Street Journal, in a second report, Gates allegedly asked out at least two women during his tenure at Microsoft — but ultimately failed to connect in both instances.
In one case, sources tell the Times that Bill attended a presentation by a female Microsoft employee and was so taken with her work that he emailed her right afterwards to “ask her to dinner.” He apparently followed this awkward situation up by writing:
“If this makes you uncomfortable, pretend it never happened.”
Uhhh…. OK. The woman apparently did exactly that — ghosting Gates — and nothing came of the inappropriate date offer. In another incident, Gates reportedly traveled to NYC with another employee who worked for his non-profit Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. During a cocktail party, the woman alleged Bill came over to her, lowered his voice, and said:
“I want to see you. Will you have dinner with me?”
WTF?!
The Times claims the woman simply laughed it off to avoid answering the awkward question, and wasn’t pushed any further. Gates’ routine may seem kind of clumsy and pathetic, but it’s wildly inappropriate and completely unacceptable as a huge play on his power dynamic over these poor employees. Not to mention a s**tty thing to do to some very smart, driven, professional women just trying to do their jobs.
Related: Does Bill Gates Even Actually Care About Charity At All?! This Is Wild…
But there’s more, too. The Wall Street Journal‘s reporting alleged more serious cheating allegations, including one in which insiders claim Bill was forced to step down from Microsoft’s board of directors specifically because a years-long extramarital affair with a Microsoft engineer came to light. That was only briefly touched on by NYT (above).
Yikes…
It’s interesting because a Gates spokesperson downplayed all of this talk, but didn’t outright deny it. In fact, Gates’ team confirmed at least one affair allegation in response to the news outlets!
Bridgitt Arnold, a spokesperson for the Microsoft founder, told the Times (below):
“There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably. Gates’s decision to transition off the board was in no way related to this matter.”
Amicable ending or not, that is not great!!! For more, you can read the Times‘ reporting HERE, and the WSJ piece HERE.
Honestly, what can we even say any more?! Men. Ugh.
[Image via ATP/Ivan Nikolov/WENN]
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