Women interviewing for Bill Gates' private office were asked about porn, STDs, if they ever 'danced for dollars': Report

Women interviewing for jobs in the private office of billionaire Bill Gates were asked personal questions about their private lives, according to a new report.

The Wall Street Journal reported that female candidates applying for jobs in Gates' private office were interviewed by a security firm and were asked questions about their sexual histories, pornography preferences, and whether they had ever "danced for dollars."

"Some people who sought jobs at billionaire Bill Gates’s private office described going through an extensive screening process that included being questioned by a security firm about their sexual histories, past drug use, and other parts of their private lives that might indicate they were vulnerable to blackmail," according to the Wall Street Journal.

Candidates claimed that applicants for jobs at Gates Ventures were asked if they ever had a sexually transmitted disease, ever had an extramarital affair, or if they had any nude photos of themselves on their phones.

The Wall Street Journal noted that none of the male candidates they had contacted said they were asked the same personal questions as the women.

The Wall Street Journal reported:

A consent form, reviewed by the Journal, said a behavioral assessment by a Concentric professional would be used to “assess suitability for employment” by Gates’s private office and would include drug and alcohol history as well as past medical and psychiatric history as it relates to the job. The form, requiring a signature from the job candidate, gave permission to disclose the results from the assessment to Gates’s private office, including “highly sensitive information,” and “does not allow for the re-disclosure of sexually transmitted diseases,” the document shows.

Carol Miaskoff, legal counsel at the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said any questioning about a candidate’s health or psychiatric history before a job offer "is just flat-out prohibited by the federal Americans With Disabilities Act."

Miaskoff added that job interview questions about past drug use may also violate the same law because they may reveal addiction – which is considered a disability.

Concentric said its screening process complies with all applicable laws.

A spokesperson for Gates said his private office has not heard about the personal questions in the interview process by the third-party contractor.

"This line of questioning would be unacceptable and a violation of Gates Ventures’ agreement with the contractor," who must comply with pre-employment screening laws, the spokesperson said.

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

A Concentric spokesperson denied asking questions about sexual or medical histories.

The spokesperson said the security screening involves "assessing a candidate’s truthfulness and vulnerability to blackmail, which often starts with voluntary statements by the candidate with follow-up questions by company interviewers."

"Concentric CEO Mike LeFever said that the company provides industry-standard background checks for hundreds of companies and its pre-employment interview protocol, which is identical for men and women, is compliant with laws in each state and nation where it provides services," the WSJ reported.

The security firm said it doesn't provide hiring recommendations.

The Concentric Advisors website states that the security firm has "supported private family offices for high-net-worth clients for almost two decades."

"Concentric provides investigative and global due diligence services for corporations, family offices, high-net-worth individuals, and private clients," the site says. "Through a combination of public records research and interviews, Concentric’s pre-employment diligence and background investigations provide a thorough review of employees, partners, home staff, third-party agents, and others."

Concentric Advisors boasts that it has investigators who are former CIA and FBI agents.

Gates, the fourth-richest person in the world with a net worth of $132 billion, acknowledged in 2021 that he had an affair with a Microsoft employee 20 years ago.

In 2019, Microsoft launched a probe into Gates' "intimate relationship" with an employee.

"Microsoft received a concern in the latter half of 2019 that Bill Gates sought to initiate an intimate relationship with a company employee in the year 2000," said Microsoft spokesman Frank Shaw. "A committee of the Board reviewed the concern, aided by an outside law firm to conduct a thorough investigation. Throughout the investigation, Microsoft provided extensive support to the employee who raised the concern."

"There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably," Gates' spokeswoman, Bridgitt Arnold, said in 2021.

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