The Truth About Bill Gates' Supposedly Salacious Past

Bill Gates may seem like America's quintessential nerd, but apparently, he may not be that innocent. After he made the bombshell announcement that he and his wife Melinda were divorcing after 27 years, rumors began to swirl about Bill's personal life. A new report from The Wall Street Journal claims that Melinda first began exploring a divorce back in 2019 amid reports of Bill's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The Daily Beast reported that Melinda had been uncomfortable with Bill's alleged relationship with Epstein since as early as 2013, and a source close to the couple described Bill's cozying up to Epstein as a "turning point" in the couple's relationship.

Now, even older stories about Bill's salacious behavior are beginning to resurface. The Daily Mail has revisited a 1997 biography about him, "Overdrive: Bill Gates and the Race to Control Cyberspace," which details some of Gates' partying and womanizing during his wilder younger years. Here's what the book alleges.

The 1997 biography "Overdrive: Bill Gates and the Race to Control Cyberspace" claims that Bill Gates was known to be a bit of a party animal, but reporters turned a blind eye in an effort to keep getting "spoon-fed stories" from the tech guru. "... Gates would visit one of Seattle's all-nude nightclubs and hire dancers to come to his home and swim naked with his friends in his indoor pool," wrote biographer James Wallace (via The Daily Mail). Apparently his womanizing continued even after he began dating Melinda French in 1988. Wallace claims she was aware of Gates' womanizing, and his inability to commit forced them onto a nearly year-long break. "When they got back together again in 1992, however," Wallace wrote, "the relationship grew closer and stronger."

The Daily Mail spoke with Gates' longtime friend Vern Raburn, who confirmed that Gates was not faithful to Melinda early on. However, he also claimed Gates told him he was "very proud" that he had not cheated in the marriage. "There's a difference between being naked in a pool with a whole bunch of other people," Raburn said, "and being naked in a pool with somebody else ..." Nonetheless, Gates continued to vacation with his ex Ann Winblad every year since his wedding to Melinda.

In 2010, Page Six reported Gates "gyrated in a VIP booth until 2 a.m." and "danc[ed] Paris Hilton style" with a group of young women. Now that he's newly single, more Gates party photos may be in our future.