sex with an employee and women in his office

Signs of extra-marital relationships and of inappropriate behavior tarnish the image of the former Microsoft boss and a leading philanthropist Bill Gates days after announcing their divorce after 27 years of relationship.

In twenty years, the Foundation created with his wife, Melinda, has become the most powerful private charity in the world, having funded projects and initiatives for a total of $ 53.8 billion.

But since the end of their marriage became known, the image of a respectable and reserved man of Bill Gates, 65, has lost its strength to revelations that show gray areas.

Sunday, the newspaper The Wall Street Journal revealed that Bill Gates’ final departure from Microsoft in March 2020 would be linked to a relationship deemed “inappropriate” with an employee at the beginning of the 2000’s.

According to an official version, Bill Gates, who founded Microsoft in 1975, left the group’s board of directors to devote himself fully to its founding. He had not been managing director since 2000.

Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to AFP that the group learned at the end of 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 outside law firm, to conduct a thorough investigation,” he added.

The engineer had affirmed, in a letter, to have maintained a sexual relation with Bill Gates “for years”, details the the Wall Street newspaper, which specified that the abandonment of his duties as director and his final departure from the group had taken place before the end of this investigation.

Another spokesperson, however, told the WSJ that Bill Gates had left Microsoft to devote himself “full time” to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

THE LINKS BETWEEN GATES AND JEFFREY EPSTEIN

The financial journal also states that board members also inquired about the links between Bill Gates and financier Jeffrey Epstein, who had been accused of sexually abusing dozens of minors in his luxurious residences before being found hanged in his Manhattan cell in August 2019.

Bill Gates’ defense assured that these were relationships that were part of his philanthropic tasks and that he had “regretted” these meetings, subraya el Wall Street Journal.

Beyond this extramarital affair and the evenings shared with 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.”

This newspaper states in particular that Bill Gates helped cover up sexual harassment involving its CFO Michael Larson.

According to two people briefed on the case, Melinda Gates would have expressed her disagreement in 2018 on the way her husband had handled the case, having allowed Larson to remain in office after a financial transaction with the alleged victim.

WOMEN IN THEIR OFFICE

The newspaper The New York Times also states that “Mr. Gates sometimes cited 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 to invite her to dinnerAccording to two people close to this exchange ”, specifies the newspaper.

According to six Microsoft employees and former employees, the foundation and the company that manages Gates’ fortune said these incidents, and more recent ones, “have sometimes resulted in an uncomfortable working environment“.

However, the NYT notes that “although they disapproved of Mr. Gates’ behavior, some employees they did not consider him 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 frown on infidelity, “people tend to overlook male infidelity. the case of rich and powerful menhe commented, referring to what happened with the infidelity of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.

Agencia AFP.

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