Categories: Stories

Bill Gates is yet another reminder that wealth is not a virtue

He was supposed to be the One Good Billionaire. Sure, Bill Gates had amassed an unfathomable fortune — but he was giving it all away!

He was heralded as an icon of philanthropy, a model for all of the world’s richest people to follow to make sure their wealth did the most good.

Plus, Gates was just a harmless, lovable nerd. He’s not the charismatic leader who charms his way through any situation, nor does he have the cult-like following of a Steve Jobs or Elon Musk.

He’s just a dork who happened to get rich.

Turns out: Nah.

In the wake of his divorce from his wife of 27 years, Melinda French Gates, details have started to be made public about another side of the billionaire.

They’re not great.

Several reports shed light on the shadier side of Gates — the parts that were kept out of the public eye.

According to The New York Times, Gates had a habit of inappropriately pursuing women who worked for him.

He allegedly sexually harassed one of his long-time money managers and gained a reputation for propositioning women employees at both Microsoft and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Wall Street Journal investigation found that Microsoft began a probe into Gates’s behavior in 2019, shortly before the billionaire announced that he was stepping down from the company’s board — though Gates claims the decision was unrelated.

Reportedly at the heart of that investigation was an affair that Gates had with a Microsoft employee in 2000, which may have occurred while he was still serving as the company’s CEO.

And then there’s the Jeffrey Epstein connection. Gates’s ties to the sexual predator and pedophile, which included several meetings, came to light in 2019 and reportedly pushed his wife to start the divorce process.

While Gates has long denied having any sort of meaningful relationship with Epstein, a new report from The Daily Beast suggests that Gates treated the registered sex offender as something of a personal confidant.

Gates allegedly viewed his dozens of meetings with Epstein as an escape from what he reportedly called a “toxic” marriage, and Epstein in turn provided Gates with advice on how to end his relationship with Melinda.

Coninued next page

(379 VIEWS)

This post was last modified on May 22, 2021 10:18 pm

Page: 1 2

Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

Recent Posts

Who propped whom: Masiyiwa vs Nyambirai?

A friend who knows about my legal battle with Zimbabwe’s richest man, Strive Masiyiwa, way…

May 1, 2026

Britain says amendment of the Zimbabwean Constitution is a sovereign, legislative matter for Zimbabwe to decide

Britain says amendment of the Zimbabwe constitution is a sovereign, legislative matter for Zimbabwe to…

March 24, 2026

Who started the war?

It is now 47 years since I wrote the short story below for a South…

March 4, 2026

Zimbabwe 2026 monetary policy statement at a glance

Zimbabwe has released its 2026 monetary policy statement in which it seeks to stabilise its…

March 1, 2026

Was Chombo Mugabe’s number two?

Far from it, on paper that is. Ignatius Chombo was one of the longest serving…

February 6, 2026

Zimbabwe’s 2026 citizen’s budget

Zimbabwe on Thursday announced a ZiG290.9 billion budget with revenue expected to be ZiG287.6 billion,…

November 30, 2025