OVER the years they’ve made much of how they fell in love at work. He flirted with her at a conference and asked her out after bumping into her in the office parking lot. She was attracted to his brain and the fact he wanted to make the world a better place.
They went on to become one of the most solid couples in the world of the uberrich and superfamous. Which is why when Melinda Gates announced she was divorcing her husband of 27 years, it was such a shock.
The marriage was “irretrievably bro ken”, Melinda said (YOU, 27 May). Cue much speculation: they’d drifted apart, the kids had grown up, they didn’t have as much in common anymore.
But as the dust began to settle a whole new picture began to emerge of Bill Gates – and it isn’t pretty.
The Microsoft boss – bookish and geeky with a penchant for dad jeans – has a whole other side to him. And Melinda had clearly had enough.
An explosive report in The New York Times claims Bill had “developed a reputation for questionable conduct in workrelated settings”. He tried to pick up women – albeit in a “nonpredatory” sense – and often badmouthed Melinda to colleagues.
In meetings of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, their global philanthropic initiative, he was often dismissive of his wife.
In 2019 the Microsoft board received a letter from a female engineer who claimed Bill, the CEO of the tech giant, had tried to “initiate an intimate relationship” with her. The board hired a law firm to probe the allegation but Bill resigned from the board in early 2020 before the investigation could be completed.
His spokesperson, Bridgitt Arnold, says the investigation had nothing to do with his decision to quit.
This story is from the 3 June 2021 edition of YOU South Africa.
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This story is from the 3 June 2021 edition of YOU South Africa.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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