Bill Gates Blames Self For Divorce, On The Verge Of Tears At Exclusive Billionaires Camp: Report

Bill Gates reportedly blamed himself for the messy divorce from his wife of 27 years in an “emotional” question and answer session at an exclusive billionaires’ camp.

An unnamed attendee of the Allen & Co. summer camp that took place last week told the New York Post that Gates may have been close to tears as CNBC host Becky Quick opened a discussion about his ongoing divorce with Melinda.

“He basically referred to the fact that it [the divorce] was his fault,” the attendee reportedly said.

The couple announced their divorce in May and the Microsoft founder has since been under fire for alleged extramarital affairs.

However, the billionaires’ camp attendee said Gates did not mention the term “affair” while discussing his billion-dollar divorce, the NY Post said in its exclusive report.

Other attendees told the Post that Gates’ talk about his divorce was “moving” but some sources said he was “agitated,” alluding to earlier reports of his alleged questionable behavior. International Business Times could not independently verify Gates' reported conversation at the camp.

Late last month, a former Microsoft executive revealed to Insider that Gates was a “bully” at the office and he “yelled at everyone the same.”

Former Microsoft board member Maria Klawe, who served from 2009 to 2015, also said Gates was against the idea of considering diversity in future executive roles.

While Quick asked questions about the philanthropic couple’s divorce, the host reportedly wasn’t able to raise the topic on Gates’ alleged links to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The New York Times reported that Melinda had expressed her discomfort over Gates’ ties with Epstein, whom the tech mogul met in 2011.

Epstein and Gates’ meetings were only known to the public in 2019. Around the same time, Melinda had started speaking with divorce lawyers.

As news of Gates’ alleged womanizing emerged, The Wall Street Journal revealed that in 2019, Microsoft board members launched an investigation into a female engineer’s allegation of an affair with the 65-year-old businessman in 2000.

Sources with knowledge of the situation told the outlet that board members decided it was best Gates stepped down from the board while the investigation was underway.

A spokeswoman for the billionaire said the affair “ended amicably” and that Gates’ resignation from the board was not related to the issue.

Finally, there was much talk during the early days of the philanthropic couple’s divorce about Ann Winblad, Gates’ former flame.

A 1997 report from Time Magazine also unearthed Gates’ revelations about his friendship with Winblad, and how the two spent a long weekend together every spring at Winblad’s North Carolina beach cottage.

Bill and Melinda Gates announced their divorce in May. The divorce is expected to drag on for years as there is a $148-billion fortune at stake.