Bill Gates flashes a broad smile as he laughs and jokes courtside with two female companions

Bill Gates was spotted in high spirits as he laughed courtside with two female companions at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament on Friday in Indian Wells.

The Microsoft co-founder, 66, couldn’t wipe the grin from his face as he enjoyed the match with the company of actress Elizabeth Shue and a glamorous brunette pal, who he recently attended the Eisenhower Cup with.

It comes after his ex-wife Melinda claimed that he had multiple affairs during their 27-year marriage in a bombshell interview on CBS Mornings. 

But the billionaire brushed off the controversy as he larked around alongside his friends, with Elizabeth putting on a particularly animated display from the crowd.

The Back To The Future II star brought daughter Stella, 21, along with her, who she shares with her film writer and director husband Davis Guggenheim.

Bill kept things casual in a navy sweater and khaki shorts which he accessorised with a pair of glasses while scratching his grey hair. 

Pals: The Microsoft co-founder, 66, couldn’t wipe the grin from his face as he enjoyed the match with the company of actress Elizabeth Shue (pictured) and a glamorous brunette pal, who he recently attended the Eisenhower Cup with

Uh-oh: It comes after his ex-wife Melinda claimed that he had multiple affairs during their 27-year marriage in a bombshell interview on CBS Mornings

Hilarious: But the billionaire brushed off the controversy as he larked around alongside his friends, with Elizabeth putting on a particularly animated display from the crowd

It was only earlier this month that the businessman was seen in public for the first time with the brunette in the stands to watch the Eisenhower Cup.

The entrepreneur appeared to be in good spirits as he was seen chatting and laughing with two female friends as he watched the charity tennis match. 

Just a week prior, Melinda said Bill’s 2000 affair with a Microsoft employee broke the ‘trust’ in their marriage as she spoke for the first time since their 2021 divorce.

In the tell-all interview, she spoke candidly about sobbing on the floor as her marriage fell apart, adding that she never thought it would end in divorce. Bill has not spoken publicly about their split. 

Family: The Back To The Future II star brought daughter Stella, 21, along with her, who she shares with her film writer and director husband Davis Guggenheim

Itchy? Bill kept things casual in a navy sweater and khaki shorts which he accessorised with a pair of glasses while scratching his grey hair

Funny: He soon made an exaggerated yawn while The Karate Kid actress laughed hysterically

Chatting: Bill appeared to be in deep conversation with the brunette beauty

‘Those are questions Bill needs to answer,’ she told CBS Mornings when asked about reports he cheated multiple times. He previously acknowledged one affair.

‘I believe in forgiveness. I thought we had worked through some of that,’ Melinda said of his 2000 affair with a Microsoft employee.

‘I gave every single piece of myself to this marriage. I was committed from the day we got engaged to the day I got out of it.’

She admitted that the affair ‘broke’ the trust in their marriage, adding that it is ‘very hard’ to get trust back in a relationship.

A spokesman for Bill previously acknowledged that he had an affair, but that it had nothing to do with him stepping down from the board at Microsoft in 2020. 

Grinning: Bill flashed his pearly whites as he watched the game from his seta

Sleepy? He certainly looked a little tired as he yawned yet again

Happy: He appeared to be in high spirits throughout the public outing

‘There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably. 

‘Bill’s decision to transition off the board was in no way related to this matter. In fact, he had expressed an interest in spending more time on his philanthropy starting several years earlier,’ a spokesman told The Wall Street Journal last year.

In the tell-all interview, Melinda also said she was in ‘tears’ about the divorce moments before having to attend a Gates foundation meeting, and told of how she is dating again.

‘I hope that happens for me again. I am dipping my toe in the water a little bit,’ she said, adding that she ‘definitely’ wants to be in love again.

She said dating was ‘interesting at this point’ but did not give any additional details.

Melinda also said that, despite the couple going through their divorce behind the scenes, they were still able to work ‘effectively together’.

Companions: It was only earlier this month that the businessman was seen in public for the first time with the brunette (left) in the stands to watch the Eisenhower Cup

‘Even during the difficult times in the last 18 months while we were going through this process behind the scenes, we were able to show up and work effectively together.

‘I’m not saying it was easy but I’m saying for me I had days where I had tears the hour before an online meeting or I’d be angry but I still rose to be my higher self and I think we can continue to do that.’

She said the pair are not yet ‘friends’ but are ‘friendly’.

Melinda also revealed she spent ‘many days’ crying on the floor while she was working ‘through’ the divorce.

‘I think it’s really important to say, look, I had a lot of tears for many days, I mean days where I’m literally lying on the floor on the carpet… thinking, ‘How can this be? How can I get up? How am I going to move forward?” she revealed.

Spilling the beans: Just a week prior, Melinda said Bill’s 2000 affair with a Microsoft employee broke the ‘trust’ in their marriage as she spoke for the first time since their 2021 divorce 

Melinda also trashed her ex-husband for his questionable friendship with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and revealed that he continued to meet with him despite her having ‘nightmares’ about him.

Melinda admitted she insisted on meeting Epstein back in 2011 because she wanted to see ‘who this man was’.

‘[Epstein] was abhorrent, evil personified. I had nightmares about it afterwards. That’s why my heart breaks for these young women. That’s how I felt, and I am an older woman. He was awful.’

Bill has said in the past that meeting with Epstein multiple times was a ‘huge’ mistake and error in judgement.

The interview was filmed at the offices of Melinda’s new company, Pivotal Ventures, in Seattle.

Oh dear: In the tell-all interview, she spoke about sobbing on the floor as her marriage fell apart, adding that she never thought it would end in divorce (pictured with Gayle King, left) 

Melinda, who shocked the world when she and Bill announced in May 2021 that they were ending their 27-year marriage, previously told how she endured emotionally challenging times whilst working with the billionaire.

The pair’s divorce was finalized privately in Washington – where their Gates Foundation is based – in August.

The terms of it were never made public but Bill was worth around $152billion at the time, giving Melinda a 50 percent settlement of $76billion. That does not include the couple’s vast property portfolio which comprised of homes in New York, Washington, and California.

While Bill and Melinda have remained silent about what prompted their split, just weeks after their announcement, the Microsoft founder was rocked by several accusations that he behaved inappropriately towards female employees at the tech company.

Happier times: Bill and Melinda were married for 27 years before announcing their split last May (pictured in 2018)

In May 2021, multiple reports surfaced claiming the billionaire pursued extramarital affairs with women working at Microsoft; that same month, Bill’s spokesperson confirmed that he’d had an affair with a female staff member in 2000, while he was married to Melinda.

Bill was CEO of the company at the time. It is not clear what position or level of seniority the employee was.

The affair stayed a secret until 2019 when the employee wrote a letter to the board detailing what had happened and allegedly asking that Melinda read it. The company opened an investigation into the claims.

While the investigation was still ongoing in March 2020, Bill shocked the business world by announcing he was resigning from his position on the company board.

The same day Bill stood down from the board of Berkshire Hathaway, run by his friend Warren Buffet.

In June of last year, Buffet then announced he was resigning from the board of the Gates Foundation, on which Melinda and Bill serve as co-chairs.

Although Bill has never spoken publicly about the split, he is reported to have told attendees at the Sun Valley conference in Idaho in July that the divorce was ‘his fault’.

In the seven months since their divorce was finalized, the former couple has put on an amicable display, coming together in October last year to host the wedding of their eldest child Jennifer, who tied the knot with Egyptian equestrian Nayel Nassar in a lavish ceremony at her 142-acre estate in North Salem, New York. 

Family: The ex-couple, who share three kids (pictured), had not previously publicly spoken out about the split, however Bill is reported to have blamed himself in an off-the-record Q&A