More than a decade before Gates resigned from the Microsoft board, amidst revelations of an affair between him and another employee, Microsoft executives had to order Gates to stop sending inappropriate, sexually charged emails to a mid-level female staffer.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Gates sent the “flirty” emails in 2007, asking her to meet up on the Microsoft campus, and outside work hours.

Although Microsoft claims the female employee never lodged a formal complaint, the emails were enough for other Microsoft executives — including then-general counsel Brad Smith and then-chief people officer Lisa Brummel — to meet with Gates and order him to stop.

Gates “admitted that sending the emails was a bad idea and agreed to stop”, according to WSJ.

The board didn’t take further action as they had been no physical contact between the pair.

A spokesperson for Gates says the claims were “false, recycled rumors from sources who have no direct knowledge, and in some cases have significant conflicts of interest.”