Between April and November 2021, Bill Gates' public image changed forever. After the surprise announcement of his divorce, after 27 years of marriage, a series of investigations drew a completely new profile of the world's richest man. Someone who over the years had made numerous "romantic advances" towards employees, both from his company and his foundation. Someone who had engaged in extramarital relationships and had crossed all professional boundaries, flirting in person or via email inappropriately.
Things worsened when the details of his very close relationship with the pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein were revealed, including their email exchanges and encounters. He began to be regularly labeled as a "womanizer" and "creep". Despite numerous attempts to rise again and restore his reputation, new information surfaces from time to time. For example, apart from the two acknowledged and documented affairs, the slip-ups could actually have been many more. Up to two dozen, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Gates' image has undergone transformations rarely seen in recent history. During the 1980s and 1990s, when Microsoft became the dominant company in the world of computing, he was perceived as the epitome of a ruthless businessman. Competitors, regulators, and part of the press described him as a brilliant but aggressive strategist, willing to use all the weight of his company and his privileged position to crush rivals and preserve his monopoly. Someone cold, calculating, distant, and indifferent to the consequences of his decisions for others. A genius with little empathy, a geek interested in money and computers, who had been lucky to find the love of his life. The legal battle against Microsoft for anticompetitive practices solidified that reputation, but perhaps it was the mockery on TV shows like The Simpsons, South Park, or Frasier that ultimately shaped that image in the collective imagination.
However, through an extraordinary, well-crafted, and very expensive operation, Gates ceased to be the face of ruthless capitalism to become the face of philanthropy, social transformation, and even intellectualism, and he did so in record time. The process was consolidated as he gradually relinquished control of the company he founded to focus, alongside his wife, on the activities of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the world. Tens of billions of dollars committed to fighting infectious diseases, child vaccination, affordable energy, education, or finding solutions to hygiene problems in water-scarce countries. And the commitment to donate the bulk of his fortune once they were gone, attracting billionaires like Warren Buffett to join the initiative.
Simultaneously, Gates cultivated a new identity as an intellectual. He published books on innovation, climate change, and public health, participated in global conferences, sponsored thinkers and philosophers, and became a regular voice in discussions on the major challenges of the 21st century. His annual list of recommendations was as anticipated as Barack Obama's and could boost book sales.
He was despised by conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers, but welcomed by any government, royal palace, company, or foundation. The guest everyone dreamed of. Until he was no longer.
The breakup with Melinda shattered that entire image. In April 2021, the couple announced their divorce after 27 years of marriage and three children: "We no longer believe we can grow together as a couple. After much thought and effort to improve our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage," they both tweeted. Weeks later, the reasons began to be confirmed. Microsoft admitted it was investigating its co-founder for an extramarital relationship that occurred 20 years earlier, after receiving a complaint about his behavior at the end of 2019. That same year, 2019, is when Jeffrey Epstein died in prison, a friend, confidant, and advisor.
In recent years, he has apologized and admitted to making mistakes and choosing poorly. He has published a memoir. In an open meeting with foundation employees just three months ago, Gates admitted to having had two extramarital affairs with Russian women, one of them a nuclear physicist; both were clearly mentioned in the emails he exchanged with the financier. "I did nothing illegal, I didn't see anything illegal," he told the employees, admitting the affairs but emphasizing that they were not with Epstein's victims. However, this week, The Wall Street Journal reports that many present were astonished when they heard Gates admit that in his divorce proceedings, accusations related to more than 20 extramarital affairs had surfaced.
One of the leaked photos in the so-called "Epstein files". According to the magnate, there was nothing illegal in the contacts he had.
The New York newspaper delves into how Gates had tried to build "an image of calm and closeness, like that of Mister Rogers", referring to one of the most beloved characters on American television, a symbol of decency and kindness, who for decades explained to children, dressed in a simple cardigan and slippers, basic issues such as sadness, fear, love, or pain.
To achieve this, Gates' massive communications team and his empire paid attention to every detail. Image, fashion, lighting, and photography experts helped choose his appearance every day, using a mannequin with the magnate's exact measurements. "A styling team keeps a large number of round-neck and V-neck sweaters in neutral tones, shirts, pants, and additional glasses from Silver Lining Opticians, Carbon model in an external building. Once the options for his public appearances are selected, employees usually send three proposals for approval by the management staff."
In addition, his experts sought ways to enhance his profiles on social media, increase the dissemination of his blog, and boost news about his charitable work. They pressured journalists or the producers of a documentary about him aired on Netflix to make changes, remove testimonies, and polish the message. All to climb positions in all kinds of rankings and lists of popularity and credibility. Every hint of normality and closeness was measured down to the smallest detail.
The revelations, accusations, and their links to Jeffrey Epstein have brutally eroded that carefully built reputation. "Two different polling teams — one from the Gates Foundation and the other from his private office, Gates Ventures — have closely monitored public opinion about Gates for years, including aspects such as his popularity, reliability, and influence. A media analysis prepared for the Foundation revealed that, from the release of Epstein's files until February, there had been an increase of over 40% in critical news about Gates and the foundation," according to internal documents accessed by The Wall Street Journal.
In recent weeks, Gates has had to cancel trips, his participation in business forums, annual meals at his Washington state residence, and dinners with prime ministers and presidents. He is no longer welcome, and even Microsoft has asked him to distance himself. There are things that not even all the money in the world can change or cover up.