Microsof’s board of directors asked Bill Gates to leave the board in 2020 after he learned of the billionaire’s romantic relationship with an employee of the company he founded.
This is what the Wall Street Journal reveals, citing informed sources according to which the board had instructed, at the end of 2019, a law firm to investigate the allegations made by an employee who claimed to have had a relationship, lasting years, with Gates. During the investigation, some members of the Board determined that it was no longer appropriate for Gates to continue to lead the company. Gates left the board before the investigation was closed and before the board could make a formal decision on the matter, add cited sources in the Journal who reveal these new details after Bill and Melinda Gates announced their divorce in recent weeks. A spokesperson for Gates confirmed Gates’ report but denied that it was the origin of the decision to leave the leadership of the company. «It was a relationship of almost 20 years ago, which ended amicably» he said, emphasizing that «the decision to leave the board was absolutely not related to this issue. In fact, he had already expressed his intention for several years to invest more time in philanthropic activity ».
A Microsoft spokesperson, for his part, confirmed to the newspaper that “a letter was received in 2019 stating that Bill Gates attempted to start an intimate relationship with a company employee in 2000.” “A Board commission analyzed the letter, aided by a law firm conducted a thorough investigation,” the spokesman said, explaining that “during the investigation, Microsoft provided extensive support to the employee” who filed the complaint. Gates stepped down from Microsoft’s board on March 13, 2020, three months after he was re-elected. The New York Times also revealed that Gates was known to “woo” several women who work with him, even after marrying Melinda. The newspaper cited testimonies of women who received email invitations to dinner, with some employees saying this behavior created an unpleasant atmosphere, others pointing out that this was not considered a “predatory attitude” on the part of anyway. Gates.