Keypoints:
- In a statement, Microsoft has said that, “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.”
- It also has said that the board has reviewed the matter and has held a “thorough investigation” along with an external law firm.
- However, the spokeswoman for Bill Gates has said that his decision to leave the board has nothing to do with his affair with the employee.
The software giant, Microsoft Corp. has conducted a “thorough investigation” into the company’s co-founder Bill Gates’s involvement with an employee almost two decades ago, after which it was informed in the year 2019 of his attempt to begin a romantic relationship with that person.
Microsoft has said that, with the help of an external law firm, the board has reviewed the matter and it has held a “thorough investigation”. It also said that they couldn’t reach the conclusion to the investigation because Bill Gates had stepped down before it was completed.
“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,” Microsoft said in a statement. “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.”
Earlier, Dow Jones reported that Microsoft’s director had found Bill Gates’s involvement with a female employee, he found it inappropriate and decided last year that he had to step down from board.
Further details regarding this investigation wasn’t provided by Microsoft.
Last year, in March, Gates had said that he was stepping down from the board in order to devote more time to philanthropy. Since 2008, Gates hasn’t been active in day-to-day role, said Microsoft at that time.
A spokeswoman for Gates has said that his decision to step down from the board has got nothing to do with the romantic involvement with an employee.
“There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably,” she said, adding that his “decision to transition off the board was in no way related to this matter.”
