Bill and Melinda Gates rumoured to have lived in separate wings of lavish $130m home
Bill and Melinda Gates seemingly had it all inside their incredible $128 million home, but then things spectacularly began to fall apart.
Amid the mounting tension in their marriage that this month led to their split, Bill and Melinda Gates lived in separate wings of their lavish mansion for the past five years, an ex-employee has claimed.
Sitting just a short drive over the bridge from Seattle and boasting spectacular views across Lake Washington, their home has been estimated to be worth over $US100 million ($128 million) and considered to be the Microsoft co-founder’s main home.
The mansion, known as ‘Xanadu 2.0’, was originally bought in 1988 for $US2 million.
It took seven years to build and includes six kitchens, a trampoline room, a 60-foot swimming pool and can accommodate up to 200 people.
However, it has become clear that behind the walls of the opulent mansion, things were falling apart for one of the world’s richest couples.
After announcing their split two weeks ago, the revelations about Mr Gates’ alleged behaviour towards other women over many years have come out of the woodwork.
In the past week alone, claims have emerged that the 65-year-old founder of Microsoft, said to be worth $US130 billion, had allegedly awkward encounters with female employees, weekend retreats with ex-girlfriends and a little-known connection to Jeffrey Epstein.
A spokeswoman for Mr Gates has strongly denied any wrongdoing on his behalf.
Before the couple went public with their announcement to go their separate ways, saying neither believed they “could grow” as part of the marriage, it was clear to some of those working with them that something wasn’t right.
A former senior staff member at the The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, that holds close to $50bn in assets and funds work in at least 135 countries, said they were not surprised by the announcement.
“There were rumours in Seattle, going back four of five years, that they were each living in different wings of the mansion,” the former employee, who asked not to be named, told The Indpendent.
The ex-employee added that Mr Gates had a reputation for being very socially awkward, that he found it difficult to make conversation with his staff, and that he appeared to show little interest in them
“Before I briefed him for the first time, I was told not to shake hands and not to give him my name, because he was not interested in that,” he said. “You were just supposed to give him the information you had for him, and then get out.”
Inheritance push gets messy
The revelations come amid reports Ms Gates may be vying to change her three children’s inheritance in her divorce from her husband after he repeatedly said he plans to give away his $130 billion fortune.
Mr Gates has said on several occasions that he plans to leave his children just $10 million when he dies.
Mrs Gates had previously appeared to be on board with the plans to give their three kids – Jennifer, 25, Rory, 21, and Phoebe, 18 – a “minuscule portion” of their vast estate, though her stance appears to have shifted.
The US Sun reports she took the unconventional step of naming top trust and estate lawyers as her representatives in her divorce filing.
Gates allegedly asked Epstein for advice
Last week, it was reported in the The Wall Street Journal, that Ms Gates had concerns about her husband’s interactions with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Now a report has claimed he asked the disgraced financier for advice on how to end his “toxic” marriage amid reports that he allegedly had an affair with a female staffer.
One of the people who were at the meetings told the Daily Beast: “Going to Jeffrey’s was a respite from his marriage. It was a way of getting away from Melinda.”
Mr Gates’ team assured the board the Microsoft founder had met Epstein for “philanthropic reasons” and “regretted doing so,” the Journal said.
A representative for the Microsoft co-founder disputes the claims adding that Mr Gates never received any advice from Epstein on his marriage.
RELATED: Melinda Gates’ concerns about friendship with Jeffrey Epstein
They said that Mr Gates never complained about his marriage when speaking with the disgraced financier.
The New York Times reported that Ms Gates expressed dismay over her husband’s meetings with Epstein but that Gates continued to meet him.
It reported Ms Gates was also upset over a private settlement of a sexual harassment claim against her husband’s financial manager, and about Mr Gates’s advancements toward other Microsoft employees.
Affair claims surface
This week it has also been reported that Mr Gates resigned from the Microsoft board after he allegedly had an affair with a female staffer.
Board members are said to have carried out an investigation into the billionaire’s romantic relationship with a Microsoft engineer in late 2019 after she claimed in a letter she had a sexual relationship with Mr Gates for a number of years.
The relationship was deemed by the board to be “inappropriate,” people familiar with events told The Wall Street Journal.
“There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably,” a spokeswoman for Mr Gates told the Journal, adding that his departure from the board was not related to the relationship.
It has also been claimed Mr Gates “pursued” several women in his office after he wed now-estranged wife Melinda in 1994, according to a New York Timesreport.
The newspaper details two alleged instances where Mr Gates clumsily asked out women who worked for him at Microsoft and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
In one instance, Mr Gates is said to have asked out a female Microsoft employee in 2006, following a presentation, two people familiar with the exchange told the Times.
Years later, another woman, who worked for the Gates’ foundation told the Times, that he had allegedly asked her out during a work trip to New York.
Some of the employees who spoke to the Times said they didn’t see Mr Gates’ behaviour as predatory, adding he did not pressurise the women into submitting to his advances.
Bridgitt Arnold, a spokeswoman for Mr Gates, said he had never mistreated any employees.
A spokeswoman for Mr Gates has strongly denied any wrongdoing on his behalf.
Earlier this month, the couple announced they were ending their marriage after 27 years.
A joint statement posted on Twitter said: “We no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives.”
No reason has been given for the split.
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