Microsoft is alleged to have banned young interns from being alone with billionaire co-founder Bill Gates as he was “flirty” and like a “kid in a candy store,” according to an upcoming book by New York Times journalist Anupreeta Das titled ‘Billionaire, Nerd, Savior, King: Bill Gates and His Quest to Shape Our World.’ The Daily Mail reported the news, after having seen excerpts from the book. HT couldn’t independently verify the information.
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What were the details of the book’s allegations against Bill Gates?
The book claimed that it was “not unusual for Gates to flirt with women and pursue them, making unwanted advances such as asking a Microsoft employee out to dinner while he was still the company’s chairman,” and added that his alleged infidelity left his then wife Melinda French Gates “seething for a long time.”
This even extended to young women working at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Bill Gates “flirted with some of the interns at the Gates Foundation, putting them in the uncomfortable position of having to think about their career prospects while not wanting to be hit on by the boss,” according to the book.
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However, a former Microsoft executive told Das that Gates did not “prey on” women or ask sexual favors in exchange for career advancement. “He’s not Harvey Weinstein… I know of no real situation in which anyone got anything for sleeping with Bill.”
Bill Gates’ overtures to women were seen as “clumsy rather than predatory” with him “mistaking engaged conversation for mutual interest,” according to witnesses quoted by Das.
A spokesperson for Bill Gates denied the allegations. “Relying almost exclusively on second- and third-hand hearsay and anonymous sources, the book includes highly sensationalized allegations and outright falsehoods that ignore the actual documented facts our office provided to the author on numerous occasions,” the spokesperson said in a statement provided to the New York Post.
What were the marital troubles that led to Bill and Melinda French Gates’ divorce?
Bill Gates is alleged to have had an arrangement with French Gates to visit Ann Winblad, a tech entrepreneur and his former romantic interest at her North Carolina home once a year as he was “pining” for her ever since the beginning of his marriage with Melinda French Gates in 1994.
Melinda French Gates is said to have personally overhauled Bill Gates’ security team due to concerns that they were “enabling him to be places where [she] didn’t know he was at.” She is also alleged to have ordered their housekeepers not to give his direct phone number when women called to their home.
The book says that Melinda French Gates “genuinely believed being married would make a difference because of her deep belief in its sanctity,” but Bill Gates thought that “love and marriage can often mean two different things.”
The last straw for Melinda French Gates was when he continued his alleged friendship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, meeting him multiple times even after Epstein had pleaded guilty to procuring sex with a minor, leading to their 2021 divorce.
“Mr. Gates has previously stated his deep regret for ever meeting with Epstein, who he met with for discussions regarding philanthropy only,” the spokesperson’s statement read.
The book is set to hit stores on August 13.