Bill Gates was once world’s most admired man. Now even Microsoft doesn’t want him at its CEO summit: Report

Bill Gates has spent years transforming his public image from the crusading co-founder of Microsoft to one of the world’s most prominent philanthropists. At one point, the billionaire was voted the world’s most admired man in a YouGov poll, ahead of the likes of the Dalai Lama and Pope Francis.

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But a report by The Wall Street Journal reveals that Gates’ carefully crafted public image began to crumble following the release of documents regarding his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Gates requested not to attend Microsoft CEO summit

Gates’ image was so damaged that he was reportedly even rejected from Microsoft’s annual CEO Summit. Although Bill Gates has not been the majority shareholder of the company for some time, Microsoft is still the company he founded with his high school friend Paul Allen, and is perhaps the clearest example of how his fortunes took a hit following the news of his relationship with Epstein.

The annual CEO Summit, in particular, is an event with which Gates is traditionally associated, and Gates often hosts a dinner for attendees at his home in Washington. But weeks before the May event, Gates’ team received information from Microsoft that it would be better not to do so this year.

“Even though things didn’t work out this year, we’ve already extended an invitation to Bill to attend the CEO Summit next year,” a Microsoft spokesperson told the publication.

Meanwhile, Gates reportedly did not attend Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting this year; This marks the first time in decades that the billionaire has not attended the meeting in Omaha.

The report notes that Gates was “not prohibited” from attending the meeting, but instead recommended that some people not attend.

Relations between Gates and Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett also cooled. The Oracle of Omaha was a major supporter of the Gates Foundation, where he pledged to make annual gifts throughout his life and served as a trustee until resigning in 2021 following Bill and Melinda Gates’ divorce.

He later told the Journal in 2024 that the Gates Foundation would not receive any money after he died.

In an interview with CNBC in March, Buffett also revealed that he had not spoken to Gates since the release of the latest set of dossiers on Epstein and that he wanted to see what additional information emerged before making his annual decision to donate to the foundation in late June.

This isn’t Gates’ first snub this year. The Microsoft co-founder was scheduled to deliver a keynote speech at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi in February.

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He had already reached India for the summit, first going to Vijayawada, then Mumbai and finally arriving in Delhi for the keynote speech. But days before the event, Gates’ name was deleted from the list of key attendees on the summit website, and Indian government officials confirmed that his invitation was under review after his name was last included in the Epstein files.

Gates was reportedly at the Oberoi hotel in Delhi to get word on whether he would attend a dinner with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron and other business leaders and government officials.

But Gates’ team was later informed that it would be better not to attend the summit because the increasing news cycle surrounding the Epstein ties was distracting from the event’s AI focus.

The Gates Foundation later said: “After careful consideration and to ensure that the focus remains on the key priorities of the AI Summit, Mr. Gates will not deliver the keynote address.”