Bill Gates has spent years transforming his public image from Microsoft's combative co-founder to one of the world's most prominent philanthropists.
At one point, the billionaire was ranked as the world's most admired man in a YouGov survey, ahead of figures such as the Dalai Lama and Pope Francis.However, a report by The Wall Street Journal reveals that Gates' carefully crafted public image has begun to shatter following the release of documents related to his ties with late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Gates asked not to attend Microsoft CEO summitSuch is the hit to his image that Gates was reportedly even snubbed from Microsoft's annual CEO Summit.
While Bill Gates hasn't been a majority shareholder in the company for a while, Microsoft is still the company he started with high school buddy Paul Allen and perhaps the most telling example of how his fortunes have taken a hit following the news of his involvement with Epstein.Notably, the annual CEO Summit is an event with which Gates has traditionally been associated, and he usually hosts a dinner for attendees at his Washington home.
However, weeks ahead of the event in May, Gates' team received information from Microsoft that it would be better not to do so this year.“While it didn’t work out this year, we’ve already extended an invitation for Bill to attend the CEO Summit next year,” a Microsoft spokesperson told the publication.Meanwhile, Gates was also reportedly sidelined from Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting this year, marking the first time in decades that the billionaire did not attend the fixture in Omaha.The report notes that Gates....
