Bill Gates private office applicants were asked about porn, STDs, and if they've 'danced for dollars': report
Some women who applied to jobs at Gates Ventures were asked sexual questions, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Questions focused on sexual histories, drug use, and issues that could lead to blackmail, WSJ said.
A Gates Ventures spokesperson denied knowledge of the contractor's alleged questions.
Bill Gates' private office had a screening process in which the firm asked some female candidates sexually explicit questions, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
Some women who applied for jobs at Gates Ventures, the billionaire's private family office that handles his investments, said that the questions included queries about their past sexual experiences, if they had naked pictures of themselves on their phone, what kind of porn they liked to watch, or if they had a sexually transmitted disease, the Journal reported. Other female workers who applied to the office said they'd been asked if they had ever "danced for dollars" or had an affair, the publication said, adding that the questions were posed by a third-party security firm, called Concentric Advisors, which is known for working with family offices.
The screenings took place over the past few years, according to the Journal, and included inquiries about past drug use and other sensitive issues. A Concentric Advisors spokesperson denied asking the questions and said its screening process examined whether potential hires were truthful or had potential "vulnerability to blackmail."
It can be illegal for companies to ask potential hires sensitive questions. Employers should avoid asking candidates personal questions that involve their gender identity, race, or religion, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Concentric Advisors told the Journal that its screening process does not violate the law and is the same for male candidates.
A Gates spokesperson denied it had any knowledge of any sexually explicit questioning in a statement to the Journal.
"Our hiring process is conducted with the utmost respect for each and every candidate, with a zero-tolerance policy for any participants, including service providers, who break this principle," a Gates Ventures spokesperson told Insider in a statement. "Further, any implication of any connection between Bill Gates' personal history and an independent background check process, identical for men and women, is outrageous."
A spokesperson for Concentric Advisors did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider ahead of publication.
Concentric told the publication its questions are aimed at measuring a potential hires "truthfulness and vulnerability to blackmail, which often starts with voluntary statements by the candidate with follow-up questions by company interviewers." The company also told the publication that not all the data gathered in the interviews is shared with the companies it works with or used to determine whether a candidate is hired.
"We have never received information from any vendor or interviewee in our 15+ year history that inappropriate questions were asked during the screening process," a spokesperson from Gates Venture told 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."
Some candidates told the Journal that they were informed by current Gates Venture staff that someone who used to work for the CIA would investigate their personal information, such as their previous sexual relationships. The publication said that it viewed a document from the hiring process that required the candidate to sign a form giving Gates Ventures access to the "highly sensitive information." Potential hires said they were told during the screening process that their results would impact whether they were offered a job, the Journal reported. The document viewed by the publication also stated that the screening interview would "assess suitability for employment."
Gates himself has come under fire in the past, including for meeting with known sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which the Microsoft cofounder has acknowledged was a mistake. The Journal reported earlier this year that Epstein appeared to threaten to expose an affair in 2010 between the billionaire and a Russian bridge player. In 2019, Microsoft's board reportedly investigated Gates after an employee said she'd had a sexual relationship with the founder. The billionaire stepped down from the Microsoft board less than a year later while the investigation was still underway. At the time, a Gates spokesperson said the relationship was unrelated to Gates' decision to step down and the affair "ended amicably."
Read the Journal's full story on its website.
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