Bill Gates was having an affair with junior colleague, Microsoft says

Recently divorced billionaire and founder of the Microsoft Corporation, Bill Gates was under investigation in 2019 over an alleged affair he had with an employee, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.

According to WSJ, the board members of Microsoft Corp
decided that Gates ought to step down as director of the board to pave way for
investigations into the alleged sexual relationship the billionaire had with a
former Microsoft engineer in 2000.

Sources familiar with the matter say the board decided to
hire a law firm to probe the accusation after the female staffer wrote to the
board claiming to have had a sexual relationship with the billionaire which
lasted years.

WSJ reported that some of the board members deemed the
relationship Gates had with the junior staffer as inappropriate and didn’t see
it right to have Gates sit as director until the board’s investigation was
concluded and a formal decision on the matter reached.

“Microsoft received a concern in the latter half of 2019
that Bill Gates sought to initiate an intimate relationship with a company
employee in the year 2000,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.

“A committee of the Board reviewed the concern, aided by an
outside law firm to conduct a thorough investigation. Throughout the
investigation, Microsoft provided extensive support to the employee who raised
the concern.” Microsoft said.

Gates resigned from his position as director in 2019 before
the investigation into his alleged affair with the woman was concluded.

After his resignation, the billionaire through his LinkedIn
page said he wanted to take time off to concentrate in his philanthropy even as
he maintained that he would continue serve as a technical adviser to Chief
Executive Satya Nadella.

The WSJ also revealed that members of the Microsoft board
became aware of the letter from the female engineer in 2019 when she demanded
changes to her job while sharing details of her relationship with the billionaire.

Gates and his Wife Melinda French announced earlier this
month that they were ending their 27-year-old marriage. In a joint statement
posted on twitter, the couple said, “We no longer believe we can grow
together as a couple in this next phase of our lives.

Although the couple did not disclose the rift that broke
their marriage, Melinda had in a divorce petition said hers and Gates marriage
was “irretrievably broken.”