Bill Gates office under fire after report alleges interviewees asked sexually explicit questions

Female candidates who applied for jobs at Bill Gates’ private family office were asked sexually explicit questions, Wall Street Journal has reported.

Gates Ventures is Bill Gates’ private family office. (REUTERS)

In a shocking revelation, Gates Ventures, which is the private family office of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, allegedly asked female applicants sexually explicit questions during a job interview process, the Wall Street Journal has reported. A security consulting firm called Concentric Advisors was tasked with conducting interviews for the company and it asked intrusive and inappropriate questions while conducting background checks of the potential candidates. The report further states that only female candidates who applied for jobs at Gates' private office were asked such questions.

Shocking questions asked

Female candidates were asked about their past sexual experiences, history of drug use, preference in pornography, and even whether they kept intimate photos on their phones. Other candidates claimed that they were asked if they ever “danced for dollars”, or had extramarital affairs, the report mentioned.

Talking about the hiring process, a spokesperson for Bill Gates told People that the hiring “process conducted with the utmost respect for every candidate, with a zero-tolerance policy for all participants, including service providers, who break this principle,” and background check process is the same for men and women.

Gates Ventures responds

On the other hand, a spokesperson for Gates Ventures told WSJ that although she had not heard about such questions being asked by Concentric Advisors, “line of questioning would be unacceptable and a violation of Gates Ventures' agreement with the contractor”.

“We have never received information from any vendor or interviewee in our 15+ year history that inappropriate questions were asked during the screening process. We can confirm, that after a comprehensive review of our records, no employment offer has ever been rescinded based on information of this nature,” she said in a statement.

On the other hand, Concentric Advisors denied the allegations, stating that their screening process involves determining the candidate's vulnerability to being blackmailed while maintaining respect and that they have zero tolerance for inappropriate behaviour.