Bill Gates resigned from Microsoft's board of directors in 2020, but not voluntarily. The board of directors of the company hired a legal firm to look after Bill Gates' old relationship with a female employee of Microsoft. He was then forced to resign. The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
Citing many who knew about the incident, the US daily wrote, "The Microsoft engineer mentioned in a letter that he had been in a physical relationship with Bill Gates for several years. During the investigation, some board members of Microsoft decided that Bill Gates was no longer suitable as a director in a software development company. Bill Gates then resigned before the end of the investigation. '
The report did not reveal the identity of the female worker. The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, quoted CNN as saying it could not confirm the allegations.
A Microsoft spokesman told CNN that Microsoft received a complaint in the second half of 2019. It was said that in 2000, Bill Gates tried to establish a close relationship with an employee of the organization. A board of directors, with the help of legal entities, dismissed the complaint. Microsoft provided appropriate assistance to the complainant during the investigation.
A spokesman for Bill Gates told The Wall Street Journal that about 20 years ago, there was an issue in the relationship that was resolved peacefully. It has nothing to do with the removal of the bill from the board of directors. He originally wanted to spend more time in his charity.
He cited a letter from Bill Gates published in March 2020 announcing his decision to step down from Microsoft's board. Bill said the same thing there.
The New York Times also quoted people directly involved in the incident as saying that Bill Gates had tried to establish relationships at least several times with women who had worked for Microsoft and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
A spokesman for Bill Gates told the New York Times that there were so many false reports about the cause, circumstances and timing of Bill Gates' divorce that it was "disappointing."
The spokesperson also mentioned that the claim of misconduct with the workers was false. He said it was unfortunate to refer to people who knew little or nothing about the incident as 'sources'. He added that rumors and speculations about Gates' separation were becoming more and more unreasonable.
Earlier this month, Melinda Gates, his wife and co-founder of the charity, filed for divorce. In a joint statement announcing the separation, they wrote that they had made such a decision after much deliberation.
Bill Gates is one of the richest people in the world. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his net worth is 14.4 billion.