San Francisco - Some of the Microsoft board members last year wanted Bill Gates to step down amid an internal investigation into his alleged affair with an employee, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Gates finally resigned from the Microsoft board in March 2020 before the investigation had been completed, the report said on Sunday.
A spokesperson for Gates, however, denied that his resignation from the board was related to the investigation.
"There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably," the spokesperson was quoted as saying, adding that his "decision to transition off the board was in no way related to this matter".
In 2019, the company’s board reportedly became aware that a Microsoft engineer penned a letter alleging that she and Gates had a sexual relationship over the years, the Wall Street Journal reported.
According to The New York Post, the woman demanded changes to her Microsoft job and also asked that Gates’s now-estranged wife Melinda read her letter, though it’s unclear if that happened.
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The affair isn’t the only allegation to see the light of day. TMZ also reported that Gates had, on at least two occasions – and possibly more, asked a few women who worked for the company, on dates.
Apparently, his advances failed and, in one instance, he emailed an employee: "If this makes you uncomfortable, pretend it never happened."
The New York Times described another incident in which Gates visited New York City with a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation worker. The two attended a cocktail party together, with the woman claiming he said: "I want to see you. Will you have dinner with me?" She apparently laughed off his advances and avoided his question.
Gates announced, in March last year, that he was stepping down from the board of directors of Microsoft, the company he co-founded in 1975 with the late Paul Allen.
"I have made the decision to step down from both of the public boards on which I serve – Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway – to dedicate more time to philanthropic priorities including global health and development, education, and my increasing engagement in tackling climate change," Gates said via LinkedIn.
Gates then began to shift his attention to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Earlier this month, the mega-billionaire couple Bill and Melinda Gates announced they were divorcing because their 27-year marriage has "irretrievably broken".
The financial magazine Forbes has estimated Bill Gates is worth more than $100-billion (about R1.4-trillion).
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