Bill Gates scratched by revelations of extramarital affair
Extramarital affairs and accusations of inappropriate behavior, ex-Microsoft boss Bill Gates sees his image tarnished by revelations following his divorce.
When he announced the end of his marriage on May 3 after 27 years together with Melinda, Bill Gates was a leading IT legend and philanthropist.
In twenty years, the Foundation he created with his wife has grown to become the most powerful private charity in the world, having funded various projects totaling $ 53.8 billion.
At 65, the reserved-looking Bill Gates emerges as a highly respected man.
But for the past two weeks, tongues have been loosening and the revelations have portrayed a businessman with gray areas.
On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal business daily revealed that Bill Gates' final departure from Microsoft in March 2020 was in fact linked to a relationship deemed "inappropriate" with an employee in the early 2000s.
In one official version, Bill Gates, who founded Microsoft in 1975, left the group’s board in 2020 to devote himself fully to its founding. He hadn't been managing director since 2000.
A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to AFP that the group was seized in late 2019 that "Bill Gates sought to establish an intimate relationship with an employee of the company in 2000," an engineer.
"A committee of the board of directors examined the problem, assisted by an external law firm, to conduct a thorough investigation," he added.
The engineer had claimed, in a letter, to have maintained a relationship of a sexual nature with Bill Gates "for years", details the WSJ, specifying that the abandonment of the functions of administrator and the final departure of the group had taken place before the end of this investigation.
Another spokesperson, however, maintained with the Wall Street Journal that Bill Gates had left Microsoft to invest "full time" in his Foundation.
The financial daily claims that the members of the board of directors had also inquired about the links between Mr. Gates and the financier Jeffrey Epstein, charged with sexual abuse of dozens of minors in his luxurious residences before being found hanged in his cell in August 2019.
"Questionable behavior"
Bill Gates’s defense ensured that it was then about relationships within the framework of his philanthropic affairs which he had “regretted”, underlines the daily.
Beyond this extra-marital affair and the evenings spent with Mr. Epstein, the New York Times published a long article on Monday based on testimonies from people on condition of anonymity who suggested that "long before the divorce, Bill Gates was known for his questionable behavior ”.
The American daily claims that Bill Gates helped cover up a case of sexual harassment for which his portfolio manager Michael Larson would have been guilty.
According to two people informed of this file, Melinda Gates would have expressed her disagreement in 2018 on the way in which this file had been managed by her husband, who had allowed Mr. Larson to remain in office through a financial transaction with the victim. presumed.
The New York Times also claims that "Mr. Gates occasionally sued women in the office."
In 2006, for example, he allegedly attended a presentation by a Microsoft employee. "Mr. Gates, who was then president of the company, left the meeting and immediately emailed the woman inviting her to dinner, according to two people familiar with the exchange," the New York said. Times.
According to six current and former Microsoft employees, the foundation and the company managing the Gates' fortune said these incidents, and more recent ones, "have at times created an uncomfortable work environment."
The New York Times notes, however, that "while they disapproved of Mr. Gates’s behavior, some employees did not see him as a predator."
For Alicia Walker, professor of sociology at the University of Missouri, these revelations should not have a lasting impact on the image of Bill Gates.
Because while Americans disapprove of infidelity, “people tend to overlook male infidelity. This is especially the case with rich and powerful men, ”she commented, referring to the infidelity of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.
