Report: Bill Gates Was Told to Stop Emailing Female Employees The 'Wall Street Journal' reports that Microsoft president Brad Smith confronted Gates more than a decade ago.

By Dan Bova

NurPhoto | Getty Images

The Wall Street Journal reports that in 2008, after becoming aware that billionaire Bill Gates had sent "inappropriate" messages to a female employee in 2007, current Microsoft president Brad Smith and former HR chief Lisa Brummel confronted the founder, who agreed to stop emailing female employees.

Related: Bill Gates Hiding Out at Mansion at Billionaires' Golf Club: Report

Business Insider reached out to Gates for comment, and was told by a Gates spokesman, "These claims are false, recycled rumors from sources who have no direct knowledge, and in some cases have significant conflicts of interest."

Per the Wall Street Journal's reporting:

After Bill and Melinda French Gates announced they were divorcing, multiple outlets reported the Microsoft founder engaged in inappropriate behavior with female employees.

Microsoft's board hired a law firm in 2019 to investigate if Gates had an affair with a female engineer in 2000.

Gates met with sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein on multiple occasions.

Gates stepped down from the boards of Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway in 2020.

Dan Bova

Entrepreneur Staff

VP of Special Projects

Dan Bova is the VP of Special Projects at Entrepreneur.com. He previously worked at Jimmy Kimmel Live, Maxim, and Spy magazine. His latest books for kids include This Day in History, Car and Driver's Trivia ZoneRoad & Track Crew's Big & Fast Cars, The Big Little Book of Awesome Stuff, and Wendell the Werewolf

Read his humor column This Should Be Fun if you want to feel better about yourself.

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