Some women who applied for jobs at billionaire Bill Gates’s private office said they were dragged through an extreme vetting process that included being questioned by a security firm about their sexual histories and past drug use, according to the Wall Street Journal.
WSJ cited some female job candidates saying that they were asked whether they ever had extramarital affairs, if they had “danced for dollars,” or if they had nude photographs of themselves on their phones.
The bizarre line of questioning was directed at the women to evaluate whether they were vulnerable to blackmail, according to the business daily.
One of the candidates was even asked whether she had ever contracted a sexually transmitted disease, according to the candidate.
A spokeswoman for Gates said his private office, Gates Ventures, hasn’t heard about such questions being asked during background checks done by third-party contractors.
“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, she told the WSJ.
The business daily reported that the screenings were conducted in recent years by a security consulting firm called Concentric Advisors.
“The interviewers were ultimately trying to find any information that had the potential to be used to compromise or blackmail individuals who would be working closely with one of the world’s richest men,” said WSJ.
Concentric said its protocols were lawful.
Gates founded the software company Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) with his friend Paul Allen and remains a large shareholder.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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