Microsoft Corp conducted an investigation into co-founder Bill Gates’s involvement with an employee almost two decades ago after it was informed in 2019 of his attempt to start a romantic relationship with that person. The board reviewed the matter and held a “thorough investigation” with the help of an external law firm, the software giant said. It didn’t reach a conclusion to the probe because Gates had stepped down before it was completed, Microsoft said. “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.”
Highlights
Microsoft said it had received a concern in the latter half of 2019 that Gates had sought to initiate an intimate relationship with a company employee in the year 2000, a Microsoft spokesman said in a statement.
The billionaire, who co-founded Microsoft in 1975 and served as its CEO until 2000, said in March 2020 that he was stepping down from the board to focus more on philanthropy.
Gates and his wife Melinda filed for divorce earlier this month after 27 years of marriage.
Global technology giant Microsoft has been in a scoop these days, thanks to talks about its co-founder Bill Gates sexual involvement with an employee 20 years ago. Now the company has conducted a probe after it was told in 2019 that he had tried to start a romantic relationship with the person, the company said on Monday.
By the time Melinda French Gates decided to end her 27-year marriage, her husband was known globally as a software pioneer, a billionaire and a leading philanthropist. But in some circles Bill Gates had also developed a reputation for questionable conduct in work-related settings, according to a New York Times investigation.
That is attracting new scrutiny amid the breakup of one of the worldâs richest, most powerful couples. In 2018, French Gates was not satisfied with her husbandâs handling of a previously undisclosed sexual-harassment claim against his longtime money manager, according to two people familiar with the matter. After Gates moved to settle the matter confidentially, French Gates insisted on an outside investigation. The money manager, Michael Larson, remains in his job.
Reset Australia
The number of Australians following public anti-vaxx Facebook groups grew nearly 300% during the pandemic, Reset Australia has found, in direct correlation with Australia’s rising vaccine hesitancy rates.
Reset Australia’s report identified 13 public Facebook groups with users based in Australia and tracked their growth between January 2020 to March 2021. The 13 included anti-lockdown style groups, such as ‘End the Lockdown in Australia, ‘ Digital Warfare’, and ‘Australia Freedom Alliance’, and larger, established anti-vaxx groups, such as ‘Australians for Safe Technology’.
During the research period, subscription to these groups grew by 280%, and as of March 2021, these groups had a combined total of over 115,000 members, generating over 2.66 million interactions.