Microsoft employees explain why Bill Gates had ‘replica mannequin of himself’
Employees at Microsoft claim Bill Gates had his own custom-made mannequin which he'd use for planning his outfits.
According to the Wall Street Journal his staff had loads of 'neutral tone crew and V-neck sweaters' as well as shirts, trousers and other pairs of glasses for Gates.
They'd put together a trio of potential outfits for social engagements Gates had and then send them off for approval by more senior staff with the mannequin used to test out each one for how it would fit on him.
The goal of all this was to cultivate an image of the Microsoft co-founder which was meant to evoke the idea of 'someone calm and approachable', with the ideal being American TV icon Mister Rogers.
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Rogers was a children's TV host whose show Mister Rogers' Neighbourhood ran from 1968 to 2001 which made it a key cultural touchstone for American children across the decades, and according to the WSJ report this was the kind of image Gates' fashion was trying to evoke.
The outlet reported that by 2019 Gates' image was doing very well as he was the public figure Americans most looked up to, beating competition from spiritual leaders such as Pope Francis or the Dalai Lama.
They report they saw emails from his staff celebrating his polling, with Gates Ventures CEO Larry Cohen saying it 'is quite fantastic and reflects the hard work and creativity of this team'.
However, the Microsoft co-founder's image has declined in recent years as his charitable venture the Gates Foundation found a 40 percent increase in 'critical news narratives' about him since his name appeared in the Epstein Files.
In more recent times Gates has admitted he had affairs with Russian women and said he made a 'huge mistake' in spending time with Jeffrey Epstein.
However, at the time a spokesperson for Gates denied the allegations made by Epstein which were contained within the files linked to the disgraced and deceased sex offender.
These claims - from a proven, disgruntled liar - are absolutely absurd and completely false," they had told LADbible.
"The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein's frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame."
Gates said the affairs did not involve the victims of Epstein, there are images of him in the files standing with women who have had their faces redacted.
He said those were pictures which Epstein had asked him to take.
Speaking at a town hall meeting at the Gates Foundation in February, he said: "I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit. To be clear I never spent any time with victims, the women around him."
Speaking in 2021 to Anderson Cooper about his relationship with Epstein, Gates admitted they met several times but any association ended when the possibility of securing philanthropic funding fell through.
“It was a huge mistake to spend time with him, to give him the credibility of being there," he said.
"I had several dinners with him, you know, hoping that what he said about getting billions of philanthropy for global health through contacts that he had might emerge… when it looked like that wasn’t a real thing, that relationship ended."
Gates said he 'never went to the island' and that Epstein had written 'false' emails to himself containing allegations about the Microsoft co-founder.
The LADbible Group have contacted representatives of Bill Gates for comment.
Topics: Bill Gates, Microsoft
Joe Harker