Scandal for Bill Gates: they reveal that he advanced his departure from Microsoft because he was being investigated for a love affair with an employee
It was published by the Wall Street Journal. The data arises in the midst of his multimillion-dollar divorce with Melinda, his ex.
Bill Gates's divorce takes on the dimension of a scandal: The Wall Street Journal published an investigation this Sunday in which it states that the businessman had to resign from his place at Microsoft due to an extramarital relationship that he had with an employee of the company that he founded.
According to the publication, in 2020, members of the board of Microsoft Corp. decided that it was not appropriate for its co-founder Gates to maintain his position on the board while they carried out an investigation into that love relationship, which they considered inappropriate.
The newspaper, citing reserved sources, reported in its online edition that the members of the corporate council hired a law firm at the end of 2019 to carry out an investigation, after a Microsoft engineer assured in a letter that she had a relationship of dye sexually with Gates for several years.
The publication reported, citing another person familiar with the matter, that Gates resigned before the council concluded its investigation.
A spokeswoman for Gates who was not identified by name acknowledged to the newspaper that there was an affair nearly 20 years ago and it ended "amicably." The spokeswoman told the Journal that "his decision to phase out of the council is in no way related to this topic.
In announcing his departure from Microsoft's board of directors last year, Gates said he was leaving to focus on his philanthropic endeavors.
In an email sent to The Associated Press on Sunday night, Microsoft said that "in the second half of 2019 it received information that Bill Gates attempted to have an intimate relationship with a company employee in 2000."
"A committee of the board of directors reviewed the information, with the help of an external legal firm, to carry out a thorough investigation. Throughout it, Microsoft provided extensive support to the employee who brought the allegation," continued the message.
Gates' s****ual conduct and his divorce
Earlier this month, Bill and Melinda Gates announced their divorce after 27 years of marriage, but indicated they would continue to work together at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the world's largest charities.
Gates became the richest person on the planet, and today it is estimated that his fortune - the fourth of a person in the world - exceeds 100 billion dollars.
Earlier on Sunday, The New York Times reported that the billionaire had developed "a reputation for questionable behavior in work settings."
The Times reported that, on at least some occasions, Gates made advances to women who worked for him at Microsoft and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The newspaper cited people with direct knowledge of his behavior.
On May 3, the unarmed couple announced their divorce through a statement posted on Twitter.
“After working a lot on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage. Over the past 27 years, we've raised three amazing kids and built a foundation that works around the world to promote healthy, productive living. We will continue to share our beliefs in that mission and continue to work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe that we can grow together as a couple in this new phase of our lives."
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 3, 2021
Paradoxically, or maybe not, Bill met Melinda because she was a Marketing Manager at Microsoft.
For decades, the couple have been prominent players on the world stage, their enormous charitable contributions gaining them access to the highest levels of government, business and non-profit organizations.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has had immense influence in fields ranging from global health to early childhood education and has made great strides in reducing deaths from malaria and other infectious diseases.
In the past year, the couple have been especially visible, regularly commenting on the global fight against Covid-19, as their foundation spent more than $1 billion fighting the pandemic.
It is estimated that around 130 billion dollars should be distributed due to the divorce and although they did not have a prenuptial agreement, having a good relationship there would be no problems due to the division of assets.
According to what Bill and Melinda Gates said years ago, their children will only receive 10 million dollars each. The remainder would be donated to charitable causes and scientific research.
