Bill Gates was photographed at theSun Valley conference on Thursday.- Gates has faced numerous unflattering media reports since
news of his divorce broke in May. Jeff Bezos was also spotted at the Sun Valley conference with his girlfriendLauren Sanchez .
Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos were both spotted at Sun Valley on Thursday.
Every year billionaires flock to Sun Valley, Idaho, for a conference thrown by private investment bank Allen & Co - the event is also known as the "summer camp for billionaires." This year so many turned up in their private jets that the Federal Aviation Authority had to delay incoming planes.
Bill Gates is a regular attendee, but his appearance on Thursday marks the first time he's come to the conference since he announced his divorce from Melinda French Gates in May.
It's also his first in-person appearance at a major event since the announcement, and the first since numerous publications published unflattering reports about him. Microsoft insiders told Insider in June that Gates was a womanizer and a bully. In May, the Wall Street Journal reported that in 2019 the Microsoft board ordered an investigation into an alleged affair with a Microsoft employee.
Gates has not stayed entirely off-the-radar since news of his divorce - he appeared at a virtual event two weeks after the announcement, and published his annual summer reading list in June.
Conference sources told Fox Business News that Gates was due to give a speech about climate change at the event on Friday.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was another Silicon Valley mogul spotted at the event on Thursday, accompanied by his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez.
Reporters shouted questions at Bezos about his planned upcoming trip to the edge of space, but the Amazon founder didn't respond.
-Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) July 8, 2021