The Wall Street Journal revealed that Bill Gates’ final departure from the Microsoft group in March 2020 would be linked to a relationship deemed “inappropriate” with an employee in the early 2000s.
Allegations of extramarital affairs and inappropriate behavior tarnish the image of former Microsoft boss and prominent philanthropist Bill Gates days after announcing their divorce after 27 years of relationship.
In twenty years, the Foundation created together with his wife, Melinda, has grown to become the most powerful private charity in the world, having financed projects and initiatives totaling 53.8 billion.
But since the end of his marriage was known, the image of a respectable and reserved man of Bill Gates, 65, has been losing solidity in the face of revelations that show gray areas.
On Sunday, The Wall Street Journal revealed that Bill Gates’ final departure from the Microsoft group in March 2020 would be linked to a relationship deemed “inappropriate” with an employee in the early 2000s.
According to an official version, Bill Gates, who founded Microsoft in 1975, left the group’s board of directors to dedicate himself fully to its founding. He was no longer managing director since 2000.
A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to AFP that the group learned at the end of 2019 that “Bill Gates sought to establish an intimate relationship with a company employee 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 claimed, in a letter, to have had a sexual relationship with Bill Gates “for years”, details the Wall Street Journal, which specified that the abandonment of his functions as administrator and his final departure from the group had taken place before from the end of this investigation.
Another spokesperson, however, told the WSJ that Bill Gates had left Microsoft in order to dedicate himself “full time” to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The financial newspaper further states that the members of the board of directors had also inquired about the links between Bill Gates and the financier Jeffrey Epstein, who had been accused of sexual abuse of dozens of minors in his luxurious residences before being found hanged in his cell. from Manhattan in August 2019.
“Questionable behavior”
The defense of Bill Gates assured that it was then about relationships that were framed in his philanthropic tasks and that he had “regretted” those meetings, underlines the Wall Street Journal.
Beyond this extramarital affair and the evenings shared with Epstein, the New York Times on Monday published a lengthy article based on testimonies from people on condition of anonymity that suggested that “long before the divorce, Bill Gates was known for his questionable behavior ”.
Follow the news of El Espectador on Google NewsThis newspaper claims in particular that Bill Gates helped cover up a sexual harassment case involving his financial manager Michael Larson.
According to two people briefed on this matter, Melinda Gates would have expressed her disagreement in 2018 with the way her husband had handled this case, having allowed Larson to remain in office after a financial transaction with the alleged victim.
The New York Times also states that “Mr. Gates occasionally quoted women from the office.”
In 2006, for example, you would have attended a presentation by a Microsoft employee. “Mr. Gates, who was then president of the company, left the meeting and immediately sent an email to the woman to invite her to dinner, according to two people close to that exchange,” says the newspaper.
According to six employees and former Microsoft employees, the foundation and the company that manages Gates’ fortunes stated that these incidents, and more recent ones, “have at times created an uncomfortable work environment.”
However, the NYT notes that “although they disapproved of Mr. Gates’ behavior, some employees did not consider him a predator.
For Alicia Walker, a sociology professor 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. And this is especially so in the case of rich and powerful men ”, he commented, referring to what happened with the infidelity of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.
Concern for the Gates Foundation
Despite their divorce, Bill and Melinda Gates assured that they will continue to run the foundation together. However, there is still concern about the future of social projects.
In 2010, the Gates, whose fortune is now worth roughly $ 145 billion, signed the ‘Giving Pledge’, a promise they jointly created to convince the richest people in the world to donate the majority of their wealth in their lifetime or by will. They themselves would offer “the vast majority of our assets to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.” It remains to be seen how that money will be distributed in the wake of their announced divorce.
The promise is not legally binding, and Bill and Melinda have already explored other forms of pay, addressing climate change and gender inequality, respectively, through their own investment firms. Your individual giving could expand now that there are two very high net worth households instead of one, said Elizabeth Dale, associate professor of nonprofit leadership at Seattle University.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is no ordinary family philanthropy; It is the largest of its kind on the planet. With more than 1,600 employees and offices around the world, it is endowed with $ 50 billion and has already distributed more than $ 50 billion since its inception to causes such as vaccine development and women’s empowerment. It competes with large countries for their support, contributing more resources to research and development to combat malaria, tuberculosis and other diseases.
