Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was reportedly prohibited from being alone with female interns at the company due to his flirtatious behavior. This revelation comes from a new book by New York Times reporter Anupreeta Das, titled “Billionaire, Nerd, Savior, King: Bill Gates and His Quest to Shape Our World,” reviewed by the Daily Mail.
According to Das, Gates’ behavior around young women at Microsoft and the Gates Foundation was problematic enough to warrant restrictions. Described as a “kid at a candy store,” Gates frequently flirted with interns, placing them in uncomfortable positions where they had to navigate their career prospects while avoiding unwanted advances from their influential boss.
“In one instance a colleague chastised one person for sending a 22-year-old intern to Gates’ office by herself, saying: ‘She’s too young and too pretty,’” Das wrote. Observers noted that Gates’ approaches were often “clumsy rather than predatory.”
The book also delves into Gates’ personal life, revealing that his marriage with Melinda Gates began to deteriorate significantly in 2019 after his connections to Jeffrey Epstein were exposed. Das alleges multiple instances of infidelity, including Gates asking a Microsoft employee out to dinner while he was still the company’s chairman.
Gates and his wife experienced a particularly challenging period in the mid-2000s after the birth of their youngest child, leading them to seek marriage counseling. Gates had maintained a close relationship with tech entrepreneur Ann Winblad, with whom he had an arrangement to spend a weekend together annually, even after his marriage to Melinda.
