BILL Gates' affair with a Microsoft employee was revealed when the woman penned a letter to the company's board divulging details about the fling and demanded that his wife Melinda "read it".
In her letter, which was sent to Microsoft in 2019, the woman said he romantic relationship with Gates began in 2000 and lasted for several years.
Microsoft's board investigated the women's claims and deemed the relationship "inappropriate", the Wall Street Journal reported.
Gates, 65, suddenly quit the board in March 2020 while the investigation was still in progress – and before the board could make a formal decision on the matter.
“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,” a Microsoft spokesman said.
“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.”
A spokesperson for Gates, meanwhile, confirmed he an affair with a female staff member but claimed that it ended amicably and that his departure from the board was not related to the relationship.
“There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably," the rep said.
"[His] decision to transition off the board was in no way related to this matter. In fact, he had expressed an interest in spending more time on his philanthropy starting several years earlier."
Additional details about the relationship, including the identity of the woman, remain unclear. However, the fling is understood to have lasted several years.
It's also unclear whether Melinda, 56, ever read the woman's letter. She has not yet commented on the matter.
The news of the affair comes as the latest twist in the couple's divorce saga since they announced they'd be splitting after 27 years of marriage earlier this month.
Two bombshell reports released over the weekend also alleged that Gates had routinely hit on staffers at Microsoft and at the philanthropic foundation he founded alongside his wife.
The New York Times reported that Gates had asked out a Microsoft employee in 2006 after watching her make a presentation, and hit on an employee of his philanthropic foundation a few years later.
On both occasions, Gates allegedly asked the women out to dinner – advances which left both of them feeling uncomfortable.
Gates reportedly told the Microsoft staffer in an email: "If this makes you uncomfortable, pretend it never happened."
The woman took Gates' advice and ignored the message, she told the Times.
The second woman said Gates hit on her during a cocktail party in New York which was being held on behalf of the Gates Foundation.
“I want to see you. Will you have dinner with me?” the woman claims he said quietly.
She said she laughed at the advance as a way to avoid responding.
Another shocking report claimed that Gates had sought marriage advice from Jeffrey Epstein, with whom he reportedly shared a "close" relationship, having first met the convicted sex offender in 2011.
Gates' and Epstein's friendship first came to light in 2019, months after Epstein killed himself in his Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on charges of child sex trafficking.
The two men reportedly spent time together on multiple occasions, flying on Epstein's private jet – dubbed the "Lolita Express" – and attending late-night gatherings at his Manhattan home.
Gates has always denied witnessing any wrongdoing during any of his meetings with Epstein and previously said he "regrets" ever meeting with him. His spokesperson also claimed he did not know that the jet belonged to Epstein.
However, the Daily Beast reported that Gates would visit Epstein's New York City Mansion to escape his unhappy marriage and the pair were reported to be "close."
He allegedly visited the shamed money-manager dozens of times between 2011 and 2014.
Gates allegedly described his marriage as "toxic" to Epstein, which both men are said to have found amusing.
The report also alleges the pair's friendship blurred personal and professional boundaries, with Gates much closer to Epstein than he'd previously admitted.
The pair would also chat about science and philanthropy, as well as joking and gossiping in a "men's club" atmosphere, the Beast reported.
A spokesperson for Gates called the characterization of his meetings with Epstein "inaccurate".
"Any claim that Gates spoke of his marriage or Melinda in a disparaging manner is false," the spokesperson said while disputing the number of times the pair met.
"Bill never received or solicited personal advice of any kind from Epstein— on marriage or anything else. Bill never complained about Melinda or his marriage to Epstein."
Bill and Melinda Gates announced earlier this month that they would be divorcing after 27 years of marriage.
“We no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives," they wrote in a joint statement. "We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this next life."
In her petition for divorce, Melinda said that her relationship was "irretrievably broken" and said the couple had settled on a plan to divide their assets up outside the courtroom.
Melinda reportedly began divorce proceedings against Gates in2019, around the time the extent of his ties to Epstein was revealed by the New York Times.
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