Board members at Microsoft Corp. decided in 2020 that it wasn’t acceptable for its co-founder Bill Gates to proceed sitting on its board as they investigated the billionaire’s prior romantic relationship with a feminine Microsoft worker that was deemed inappropriate, based on a report in The Wall Street Journal. Citing unnamed sources, The Journal reported on-line on Sunday that board members trying into the matter employed a regulation agency in late 2019 to conduct an investigation after a Microsoft engineer alleged in a letter that she had a sexual relationship with Gates over a number of years.
The Journal reported that Gates resigned earlier than the board’s investigation was completed, citing one other particular person conversant in the matter. An unnamed spokeswoman for Gates acknowledged to The Journal that there was an affair nearly 20 years in the past, and that it ended “amicably.” The spokesperson told The Journal that “his decision to transition off the board was in no way related to this matter.” When he left Microsoft’s board final yr, Gates mentioned he was stepping right down to deal with philanthropy.
Microsoft couldn’t be instantly reached for remark.
Earlier this month, Bill and Melinda Gates introduced that they have been divorcing after 27 years of marriage however would maintain working collectively at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, one in all the largest charitable foundations in the world. Gates was previously the world’s richest particular person and his fortune is estimated at properly over $100 billion.
Earlier Sunday, The New York Times reported that Gates had developed “a repute for questionable conduct in work-related settings.”
The Times reported that on at least a few occasions, Gates made overtures to women who worked for him at Microsoft and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Times cited people with direct knowledge of his behavior.
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