BAD IDEA

Bill Gates Warned to Stop ‘Inappropriate’ Emails With Female Microsoft Staffer: Report

The Microsoft founder reportedly told top executives that he’d put an end to the “flirtatious” messages he sent to midlevel female worker in 2007.

Bill Gates was warned by top Microsoft executives in 2007 to stop sending “flirtatious” emails to a midlevel female employee, The Wall Street Journal reports. At the time, the married Gates was a Microsoft employee and chairman of the board. The emails—in which Gates asked the woman if she’d like to meet up outside the office—were not “overtly sexual, but were deemed to be inappropriate,” Microsoft spokesman Frank Shaw said, adding that the company didn’t become aware of the messages until 2008, not long before Gates left his full-time job there. The woman never filed a complaint about the emails. Then-General Counsel Brad Smith and then-Chief People Officer Lisa Brummel told Gates to stop the messages, and the Microsoft founder reportedly agreed they weren’t “a good idea.” Gates’ spokesperson said: “These claims are false, recycled rumors from sources who have no direct knowledge, and in some cases have significant conflicts of interest.” The billionaire’s 27-year marriage ended this year, with his divorce being finalized in August.