Bill Gates’s private office reportedly asked some female job candidates about their sexual histories including what kind of p0rnography they liked, whether they ever had extramarital affairs and even if they had nude pictures of themselves on their phones.
According to the Wall Street Journal, during Gates’s extensive screening process, a security firm also asked some women if they ever “danced for dollars,”
Another candidate told the media outlet that she was asked whether she had ever contracted a sexually transmitted disease.
The report didn’t state if any male candidates were asked the same personal questions during the hiring process for Gates’s private office, called Gates Ventures.
A spokeswoman for Gates Ventures said she hadn’t heard about such questions being asked during the background checks, which were conducted by third-party contractor, Concentric Advisors.
Concentric Advisors calls itself “family office security” for “high-net-worth clients” on its website.
The risk-management firm also touts that it has several former CIA and FBI agents on its staff.
These interviews were reportedly conducted in recent years, and Concentric’s interviewers were believed to be finding any information that could be used to compromise or blackmail individuals working so closely to Gates, the outlet reported.
“This line of questioning would be unacceptable and a violation of Gates Ventures’ agreement with the contractor,” the Gates spokeswoman told The Journal.
“We have never received information from any vendor or interviewee in our 15+ year history that inappropriate questions were asked during the screening process,” she said in a statement to The Journal.
“We can confirm, that after a comprehensive review of our records, no employment offer has ever been rescinded based on information of this nature,” the spokeswoman added.
Gates, 67, was probed back in 2019 for allegedly having an affair with a Microsoft employee, which was revealed after the woman penned a letter to the board telling them she had a sexual relationship with her boss over the years.
The woman demanded changes to her Microsoft job and also asked that Gates’ ex-wife, Melinda, read her letter though it’s unclear if that happened.
Melinda and Gates divorced in 2021 after nearly three decades of marriage.