The investigation, conducted in late 2019, was launched after the woman in question – a Microsoft engineer, blew the whistle over a years-long sexual relationship she had with Gates – right around this time that Gates’ relationship with notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein had spilled into the public sphere and Melinda Gates began exploring divorce.
During the probe, some board members decided it was no longer suitable for Mr. Gates to sit as a director at the software company he started and led for decades, the people said. Mr. Gates resigned before the board’s investigation was completed, another person familiar with the matter said. -WSJ
“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,” said a spokesman for the company. “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.”
Bill and Melinda Gates announced earlier this month that they were ending their 27-year marriage because, according to Melinda, the marriage was “irretrievably broken.” She had been working with attorneys since at least 2019 to end it according to the Journal. And while the couple hasn’t revealed what prompted the split, the Journal also reported that Bill’s dealings with Epstein was a ‘source of concern.’
Members of the Microsoft board became aware in late 2019 of the letter from the female engineer, who demanded changes to her Microsoft job and also shared details of her relationship with Mr. Gates, the people familiar with the matter said. Mr. Nadella and other senior executives were aware of the woman’s allegations, some of the people said.
