Representatives for billionaire Bill Gates’ private investment office asked sexually charged questions to prospective female employees, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, the latest scandalous allegation against the Microsoft cofounder or his associates.
During background checks by a third-party firm, female candidates for roles at Gates Ventures were asked if they ever had sexually transmitted diseases, stripped, watched pornography or kept naked pictures of themselves on their phones, unnamed women who went through the process told the Journal.
Male job applicants to the firm said to the Journal they did not receive similar questions about their sexual history, which the paper said were meant to assess whether candidates are vulnerable to blackmail.
Concentric Advisors, the company which conducted the checks, told the Journal it never asked questions about sexual history and did not treat male and female candidates differently, characterizations disputed by Gates Ventures applicants.
A Gates Ventures spokeswoman told the Journal such questioning is “unacceptable” and the company has never received a formal complaint about the content of its third-party background screenings, while a Gates spokesperson wrote to Forbes the company has a “zero-tolerance policy” for any misconduct in the hiring process, including among third-party contractors.
The 67-year-old Gates announced his divorce from his wife of 27 years, Melinda, in 2021. The billionaire admitted he “made mistakes” and caused “a lot of pain” due to his behavior during the marriage. A spokesperson for Gates confirmed in 2021 he had an extramarital affair with a Microsoft employee about 20 years ago, and the billionaire reportedly pursued numerous other of his subordinates at the technology giant. Gates has also faced heavy scrutiny for meeting with the now-deceased, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein several times about a decade ago to reportedly discuss philanthropic causes. After their business relationship soured, Epstein reportedly tried to blackmail Gates after discovering his affair with a Russian woman in her 20s, 30 years Gates’ junior. Gates’ association with Epstein and his handling of a sexual harassment allegation against his money manager contributed to his ex-wife’s decision to separate, according to the New York Times. Gates Ventures has invested in meat-alternative companies Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods and Just Egg as well as several autonomous driving and alternative energy companies, according to Pitchbook.
