Microsoft board members opened an investigation into Bill Gates in late 2019 after an employee said she had had a sexual relationship with him that had spanned years, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
The newspaper reported that the board hired a law firm to conduct the investigation after the employee sent the prosecution in a letter, adding that at least some board members concluded that Gates should step down from the board.
And when Gates stepped down in March 2020, he said the goal was to focus on "philanthropic priorities."
While the newspaper said that the investigation was not completed when he resigned.
In a statement presented to Insider, a Microsoft representative said, "The company was concerned in the latter half of 2019 after allegations that Bill Gates sought to start an intimate relationship with an employee of the company in 2000."
"A committee of the Board of Directors reviewed the allegations, with the help of an external law firm to conduct a comprehensive investigation. Throughout the investigation, Microsoft provided extensive support to the employee who raised the concern," the statement continued.
According to the newspaper, a representative of Gates said that his decision to step down from the board of directors had nothing to do with the investigation, but admitted "there was an affair for nearly 20 years that ended amicably."
The newspaper report came on the day that a Newyork Times report revealed allegations that, during his marriage, Gates had relationships with female employees at Microsoft and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The newspaper's report also quoted unnamed sources as saying that Gates was refusing to have his wife Melinda French Gates attend during Microsoft's meetings.
The prominent couple, who first met when Melinda Gates was an employee at Microsoft, announced earlier this month that they had broken up after 27 years of marriage, and said they would continue to work together at their charity.