Bill Gates has been using NDAs to hush up his affairs & harassment for decades

Bill and Melinda Gates announce they are getting divorced **FILE PHOTOS**

The gossip around Bill & Melinda Gates’ divorce slowed in recent weeks. That was what I expected at the start of the story – Bill and Melinda going to their separate lairs of doom with their teams of lawyers, publicists and crisis managers and hashing out their sh-t privately. Instead, we got weeks of drama and a series of revelations about Bill Gates’ history as a serial sexual harasser and cheater. We got stories about Bill’s closeness to Jeffrey Epstein, even after Gates knew all about Epstein’s criminality. We also learned that Melinda was ready to file for divorce in 2019, but they limped through the past two years until their youngest child graduated from high school, and until Melinda seemingly got all of her legal ducks in a row. Speaking of, Vanity Fair had a fascinating piece about what’s been happening in recent weeks, including some shadowy gossip about Microsoft:

More details will emerge: As the divorce proceeds past initial reports, people who know the couple expect more details to emerge. According to two people familiar with the situation, someone in Melinda’s circle worked with a private investigator leading up to filing, which these people expect to inform both the public and private case. A spokesperson for Melinda called the claim “completely false. Neither Melinda nor anyone at her direction ever hired a private investigator.”

His good-guy PR aside, Bill Gates has always been an a–hole: The decades of stories about him being difficult to work with are correct, said one former employee. They have been largely suppressed by Gates’s liberal use of nondisclosure agreements, ostensibly to keep more damning details under wraps, this person said. “For such a long time you were told, ‘You have an NDA. You can’t talk,’” said the former employee, who signed such an agreement. The current wave of reporting around Gates’s behavior encouraged this person to open up, but they are keenly aware that Gates has lawyers at the ready. “And these are not nice lawyers,” they added.

Bill Gates’ affairs: For years there have been whispers, within Microsoft and in Gates’s broader professional and social circles, about inappropriate extramarital relationships. None of it was entirely shocking, despite the seeming contrast with his public persona. Bill and Melinda’s relationship began as an office romance, with Bill as the boss and Melinda as the younger employee whom he flirted with at a conference before asking her out in the company parking lot.

An open secret around the office: For the people who worked for him, Bill’s behavior was something of an open secret. The former employee who signed an NDA said there were times when Bill came into the office driving a Mercedes, and an hour later, one of his security personnel showed up with a golden brown Porsche that Bill drove away in. “We all assumed that it was when he was with women,” the employee said. “I knew there were many offsite meetings that were not on his calendar.” According to someone close to Bill, his infidelities were no secret to many of the people around him. Yet another source close to Bill disputed that he would disappear from the office, saying he was “one of the most intensely scheduled people on the planet.”

How much did Melinda know? It’s not clear how much Melinda knew about her husband’s behavior or these rumors, or how much they factored into her decision to file for divorce. People close to the couple said there had been tension for some time, that they had been living separate lives for years, and that the decision to separate had been delayed until their youngest daughter graduated from high school. The Times reported that in 2018, Melinda was unhappy with how Bill dealt with a sexual harassment claim against his longtime money manager, insisting on bringing in outside investigators. And then in 2019, when the relationship between her husband and Jeffrey Epstein became public knowledge, she hired divorce lawyers, setting a plan into motion.

[From Vanity Fair]

“…Someone in Melinda’s circle worked with a private investigator leading up to filing” and “Neither Melinda nor anyone at her direction ever hired a private investigator.” That means her lawyers subcontracted someone who hired a private investigator on the downlow, but it was someone reputable. If you think about it, if Melinda knew she would be getting out for two-plus years, she could have spent that time gathering evidence for her own divorce. Not so much to actually use in a divorce trial, but stuff to hold over Bill’s head so that Melinda can get what she wants out of the divorce, including a guaranteed position at their foundation and a huge financial settlement. What the PI found was likely more evidence of Bill’s affairs, his sexual harassment of subordinates, and perhaps even more ties to Jeffrey Epstein. And Bill doesn’t want anything else coming out.

Here are some photos of Bill out in New York on May 22nd, with his daughter Phoebe. They went to dinner at Nobu and Bill got a doggy-bag or he ordered some extra food to take home.

Bill Gates departs dinner at Nobu with daughter Phoebe Gates and her boyfriend Chaz Flynn in New York

Bill Gates departs dinner at Nobu with daughter Phoebe Gates and her boyfriend Chaz Flynn in New York

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

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32 Responses to “Bill Gates has been using NDAs to hush up his affairs & harassment for decades”

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  1. Lily P says:

    NDAs are such a worrying trend

    • SomeChick says:

      NDAs do not sheild illegal acts. not all contracts are enforceable. that said, they can certainly be used as a lever to convince people to be quiet and keep their heads down.

      • Jay (the Canadian one) says:

        Even in the case of illegal acts or investigation they still have clauses obligating you to inform the other party before cooperating if law enforcement seeks information from you pertaining to an investigation, to give them the opportunity to get their legal team to seek injunctions. Or, obligating you to waive your right to sue in favour of using arbitration instead.

    • Léna says:

      There’s actually a good article on Buzzfeed about NDAs and how celebrities use them!

  2. lunchcoma says:

    Gates hasn’t always had that good-guy PR. When Microsoft was having its antitrust problems in the 90s, he was viewed as an evil weirdo. His narrative has been that he’s softened and matured over the years, but I’m increasingly thinking that what changed is that he married someone with a good understanding of PR. Now that Melinda’s not there to put a good spin on things, the evil weirdo is back.

    (I wouldn’t normally have much to say about his daughter, but she’s wearing two completely different outfits from the knees up and the knees down, and it’s really confusing me.)

    • cassandra says:

      I’m yikes-ing the heck out of that outfit.

      • LillyfromLillooet says:

        I love that she is exploring the high-low look. I cannot abide by heels and I cheer when I see young women rejecting them.

      • whatWHAT? says:

        hahahaha…my take, too.

        I was thinking “that’s an…interesting…outfit on his daughter.”

      • Meg says:

        @LillyfromLillooet
        Lol yes my thoughts exactly

    • Chicago says:

      It’s a look. A stylish dress/gown and sneakers/comfy shoes. Same as a pair of nice sweatpants with stylish heels.

    • AmB says:

      “Evil weirdo” = today’s “incels”, more or less. Guys who feel they’re intellectually superior and deserve whatever it is they want from the world, whether it’s wealth or sex or power.

      Gates was the prototype, or maybe just the most famous example.

      You can give them a business empire or make them a future king, but inside they’re still nasty, entitled, insecure, warped little Gollums. (Why, no, my career in the tech world hasn’t embittered me toward this type of guy at all.)

  3. Amy Bee says:

    I never thought Bill Gates was a good guy. He’s a sociopath just like other nerds who became billionaires. And Melinda is not a good person either. When the pandemic started she was going on TV talking about Africa when she should’ve been worrying about the US only for her foundation to turn around and dissuade Oxford from giving out their vaccine for free to low income countries.

  4. MF1 says:

    Not a fan of Bill, and I hope Melinda takes him to the cleaners during the divorce proceedings.

    But I worry all this stuff coming out will fuel more conspiracy theories. Desperate rightwing idiots are going to latch on to this as proof that Q is right about everything.

  5. Willow says:

    Can you be a ruthless businessman who crushes all competition for work and be a decent human being in personal relationships? Doesn’t look like it.

    • LillyfromLillooet says:

      @Willow, for years I have felt like I’ve been living in an alternate reality as Bill Gates went from being crusher of lives, dreams, and companies to being a much admired and consulted visionary. I gave especial side eye to the fact that he was willing to behave without compassion or compunction within his peer community, but became a hero breakthrough thinker for the issues of poor brown peoples worldwide. No one seemed to be clocking this. Medals of Honor, keynotes, awards, accolades flow to this guy, who would and did break the rice bowl of anyone who wanted to lead tech and was on his level.

      As for Melinda, welp, she did date the boss and I think put up with a lot to be with him, which bespeaks a certain sort of ambition. She’s on LinkedIn and Insta with messages of social compassion for the those at the lower rungs, and I would be happy to cheer her on…but she got where she got in life not by living these sterling values but by being an effective worker at a ruthless company and tying her life to a ruthless leader.

      • Courtney B says:

        Mackenzie Bezos was with Jeff before he became a billionaire so maybe the mindsets are different. But given the philanthropic work Melinda is already involved in, I hope she pulls a Mackenzie, gets a truckload (that constantly replenishes because of the value of the stock) and just starts handing it out. Mackenzie focuses on a lot of smaller causes/organizations too where her money completely transforms them. There’ve been some excellent stories. And she just got hitched to a cute school teacher and looks really happy. She’s definitely proving the kind of fantastic, altruistic life that awaits when you shed these cheating a-holes.

    • alexc says:

      I worked for a ruthless billionaire. He’s currently on his 4th marriage and has 7 kids from various wives. So in my experience you are correct lol.

  6. Holland S says:

    Didn’t have Bill Gates on my “Me Too” bingo card. I just thought he was an uneventful, uninteresting philanthropist.

  7. Lizzie Bathory says:

    Melinda is really threading a needle here. I think she has enough PR savvy & resources to pull it off, but it’s been interesting that she started setting up the divorce when Bill’s ties to Epstein were reported in 2019. Not when she reportedly became uncomfortable with their relationship years earlier. Not when she visited his townhouse, which was full of pornographic artwork.

    My guess is that Melinda was aware of the affairs & gradually became aware that something was deeply off about the Epstein connection. Now she’s doing everything she can to save the family’s reputation & the Foundation.

    • questions says:

      She was probably able to tolerate the affairs when they were with adult women. A lot of men cheat — but with other grownups.

      The Jeffrey Epstein connection takes the Bill Gates thing to another level of weirdness. I can see why she’d want to get away from that.

    • Golly Gee says:

      When Bill’s ties to Epstein *became public* seems to be the catalyst.

  8. SusanRagain says:

    More money, more problems.
    No one who reaches Gates level of extreme wealth is a good person.
    The “do good” to look good.

    I have zero understanding of what the drive is to become the richest person on the planet.

    IRL, I have been Admin Assistant to 2 wealthy men who came up from hard childhoods.
    Both married, no kids. They lived 24/7/365 for their careers. Almost every hobby or vacation was a working/making connections.
    They were good employers and very polite at all times. And their wives lived mostly alone, in beautiful houses.
    Nope. Not for me.

    How does a regular person hire a legit private detective?
    I bet they found all kinds of nasty info on Bill. Hanging with Epstein = divorce ASAP.

  9. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    Signing NDAs goes back a long way, and they’re meant to shield proprietary information which could harm the company, obviously, but employee indiscretions? Loyalty shouldn’t mean complicit or, God forbid, complacent. Of course there are many kinds and general interpretations for each (secrecy, confidential, unilateral, yada yada yada), BUT, the deal is over when legal lines are crossed. This fact doesn’t seem to worry those in power all too much which makes me think other illegal activities are conducted in order to protect the illegalities falling under the NDA umbrella. It’s always been so greasy, underhanded and ancient. You’d think we’d have evolved. Not yet. Not enough anyway.

  10. Darla says:

    I always viewed him as asexual, but you know what, that was my projection. Because I find him so repulsive I can’t view him that way.

  11. Dylan says:

    For those who are interested, Xeni Jardin has been going to town on Twitter, talking about the dark connections between tech, Epstein, and Russian money. Bill Gates has popped up on her threads more than a few times.

    • Lizzie Bathory says:

      Yes. Xeni called Bill Gates some time ago. Yesterday Vanity Fair published a deep dive into Epstein’s relationship to Les Wexner (Limited brands). It’s all very messy.

  12. Chicago says:

    This makes me upset a little. I’ve never followed Bill Gates but his image has always been of one who is somewhat normal, decent even with his long term marriage and focus on making education available to all. It’s like, are there really no men who are actually normal and decent? Is it all just a matter of being sneaky and have enough money to hide i their true assselves? It’s not a real question of course. Just getting angry at those SoBs.

    • goofpuff says:

      His marriage to Melinda Gates was the best money PR could buy. With her at his side, he was able to swerve the PR to clean up his image. Without her, he goes back to being that massive narcissistic womanizer everyone remembers.