© An investigation by the New York Times also alleged Bill and Melinda Gates had some knowledge of Larson’s misconduct, with reports that at least six people complained to Bill about his behavior.Several had also gone to Melinda, the outlet reports.
Interviews between the New York Times and 10 former employees, as well as others familiar with the firm, which goes by the name Cascade — although it’s sometimes referred to as Bill and Melinda Gates Investment (B.M.G.I) — have described incidents in which Larson ‘openly judged’ female employees on their attractiveness, shared nude photos of women on the internet, and on multiple occasion made sexually inappropriate remarks.
Larson would also bully employees, retaliating against those who left the firm and made a racist remark towards a black employee, a former employee alleged.
Larson and his spokesperson, Chris Giglio, have released statements to the outlet, denying some but not all allegations of Larson’s misconduct.
“During his tenure, Mr. Larson has managed over 380 people, and there have been fewer than five complaints related to him in total,” Giglio said. He added, “Any complaint was investigated and treated seriously and fully examined, and none merited Mr. Larson’s dismissal.”
Hired in 1994 by Bill and Melinda Gates, Larson has for 27 years been in charge of the Microsoft co-founder’s money, investing it in farmland, hotels, stocks and bonds. His financial expertise is partly how Gates fortune soared from $10 billion to $130 billion.
Spokespeople for Bill Gates have released statements defending the firm’s policies dealing with misconduct in the workplace.
“B.M.G.I. takes all complaints seriously and seeks to address them effectively to guarantee a safe and respectful workplace, "Giglio said.
Bridgitt Arnold added: “B.M.G.I. does not tolerate inappropriate behavior.”
She stated that “any issue raised over the company’s history has been taken seriously and resolved appropriately.”
“Calling B.M.G.I. a toxic work environment is unfair to the 160 professionals who make up our team and our culture,” reads a statement released by Larson to the NYT.
Courtney Wade, who represents Melinda Gates stated: “Melinda unequivocally condemns disrespectful and inappropriate conduct in the workplace. She was unaware of most of these allegations given her lack of ownership of and control over B.M.G.I.”
The outlet recounted a work Christmas party in the mid-2000s, during which Larson sat outdoors with a few male employees after dinner.
Three female colleagues stood about 20 feet away, one of the men told the NYT.
“Which one of them do you wanna” have sex with? Larson asked the men, using a profane verb.
On another occasion, he once asked a woman on a weight-loss program, if she was ‘losing weight’ for him, a source who heard the remark told the NYT.
Another woman at Cascade said that Larson once asked if she would strip for a certain amount of money.
Larson would also ask male employees whether certain women at Cascade were single and on occasion shared nude photos on his phone and compared them to a female executive at the firm.
Larson has denied making any of these comments. “This is not true,” he said to the NYT.
Larson would also occasionally call employees as “stupid” and criticize their work as “garbage,” the report said.
In a statement to the Times, Larson acknowledged, “Years ago, earlier in my career, I used harsh language that I would not use today. I regret this greatly but have done a lot of work to change.”
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A former employee, Stacy Ybarra alleged that she was the recipient of racist remarks and retaliatory behaviour from Larson in 2004.
When she decided to quit her job at Cascade to work for InfoSpace, Larson “became so angry” that he shorted the stock of InfoSpace, three people told the NYT.
He had allegedly told Ybarra that he did it out of spite.
Giglio confirmed that Cascade did short the stock, but denied that Larson did it to spite Ybarra, the NYT reported.
Ybarra went on to stay at Cascade, after being repeatedly pressured by Larson.
On Election Day that November, Larson had asked some employees when would be the best time to go vote, to which Ybarra responded that she was able to vote that morning without having to wait in line.
“But you live in the ghetto, and everybody knows that Black people don’t vote,” Larson responded, according to two people who heard the remarks and a third person who was told about it later.
Giglio denied that Larson made the remark. The NYT alleged that that one employee complained to human resources about the comment, which in turn made its way to Bill and Melinda Gates.
The couple spoke to Ybarra as part of an internal investigation, people familiar with the matter told the NYT. In January 2005, she quit Cascade, took a small payout and agreed to not talk about the firm in the future.
The report alleges that Cascade made payouts to at least seven people familiar with Larson’s behavior in exchange for their silence.
Former employees told the NYT that Bill Gates support of Larson as Cascade grew in size, allowed him to keep a culture of fear within the offices.
Larson currently still runs Cascade.
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