In an explosive upcoming tell-all book, New York Times journalist Anupreeta Das reveals troubling details about Bill Gates’ behaviour towards young female interns at Microsoft. The book, titled Billionaire, Nerd, Savior, King: Bill Gates and His Quest to Shape Our World, portrays Gates as a “kid in a candy store” when it came to interacting with these interns, according to excerpts reported by the Daily Mail.
Das recounts incidents where Gates frequently flirted with women and made unwelcome advances, such as asking a Microsoft employee out to dinner while still serving as the company’s chairman. His behaviour, described as awkward and unprofessional, led to Microsoft banning him from being alone with interns. Witnesses characterized his advances as “clumsy rather than predatory,” yet they put interns in a difficult position, having to balance career aspirations with fending off unwanted attention from a powerful boss.
One telling account in the book highlights a colleague’s objection to sending a 22-year-old intern to meet Gates alone, cautioning, “She’s too young and too pretty.”
These behaviours reportedly began soon after Gates married Melinda Gates in 1994. The book claims Gates’ annual visits to his former flame, Ann Winblad, caused tensions in his marriage. Concerned about his conduct, Melinda Gates reportedly overhauled her husband’s security team and instructed housekeepers to withhold his phone number from women callers.
A former Microsoft executive depicted Gates’ actions as misinterpreted enthusiasm rather than predatory behaviour, emphasizing that Gates did not demand sexual favours in exchange for career advancement. “He’s not Harvey Weinstein. I know of no real situation in which anyone got anything for sleeping with Bill,” the executive told Das, as reported by the New York Post.
However, Gates’ association with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was the final straw for Melinda Gates, leading to their divorce in 2021. Gates’ spokesperson has criticised the book, dismissing it as relying on hearsay and falsehoods, and reiterated that Gates regrets his meetings with Epstein, which he claimed were solely for philanthropic discussions.
