Microsoft board members started an investigation into Bill Gates after a female colleague said she had a sexual relationship with him that lasted years.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the worker came forward with the claim, begging the board to have Bill Gates stand down from the board of directors in 2019.
When Bill Gates announced his retirement in March 2020, he stated that he was doing so to focus on “philanthropic interests.” It was not related to the entanglement case.
“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 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,” the statement continued.
The Journal’s allegation coincided with a New York Times investigation alleging that Gates had sought female employees at Microsoft and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. According to the Times, Gates was contemptuous to his wife, Melinda French Gates, at Microsoft meetings.
The high-profile pair announced their divorce earlier this month after 27 years of marriage. They promised to keep working together at their nonprofit foundation.
