An upcoming book surrounding Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is set to stir controversy. Author Anuprita Das alleges that Mr Gates behaved inappropriately with several women, leading Microsoft to take measures to protect young interns from being alone with him. New York Post informed of.
The book portrays a man who, despite his benevolent image, made unwanted advances and flirtatious behaviour towards staff and interns.
The book claims that Bill Gates “flirted with some of the Gates Foundation interns, putting them in an uncomfortable position where they had to think about their career prospects while also not wanting to offend their boss.”
However, a former Microsoft executive told the author that Mr Gates did not “prey” on women or demand sex in exchange for career advancement. “He’s not Harvey Weinstein… I don’t know of any real situation in which someone got anything for sleeping with Bill.”
A spokesman for Bill Gates denied the allegations. The spokesman said in a statement to the New York Post, “Relying almost entirely on second- and third-hand hearsay and anonymous sources, the book contains highly sensational allegations and outright lies that ignore actual documentary facts provided to the author by our office on multiple occasions.”
These alleged actions greatly affected Mr Gates’ marriage to Melinda French Gates. The book claims that she became increasingly concerned about her husband’s behaviour, leading her to take proactive steps, including restructuring his security team and restricting his access to personal contact information.
The couple’s eventual divorce is attributed in part to tensions caused by these issues, as well as Gates’s continued association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The allegations have been strongly denied by Gates and his representatives, who have described the book’s claims as sensational and baseless. However, the allegations are likely to spark intense public scrutiny and debate about the behavior of powerful individuals.
The book will be available in stores on August 13.
