Ambri Inc. (Gates-backed) Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing (critical) Ambri Inc., a liquid-metal battery developer backed by Bill Gates' investment firm Gates Frontier (among other investors), filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early May 2024 after exhausting available funding. Court documents and coverage state noteholders (including existing investors) planned to loan Ambri additional cash to cover the Chapter 11 process and may acquire the company via debt-for-equity conversion if no higher bids emerge; Ambri cited inability to secure sufficient funding to complete its battery factory in Massachusetts. (Reported May 6–9, 2024; investor involvement: Gates Frontier.). Company owned by Bill Gates' investment fund (Optim) files Chapter 11 (critical) A Texas electricity company owned by an investment fund tied to Bill Gates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2024 after suffering sustained losses in the power market. Reuters coverage specifically identified the company as owned by a Bill Gates investment fund and described ongoing financial distress that led to the Chapter 11 filing (May 2024).. Microsoft board investigation into Bill Gates' 20-year-old relationship and Gates' board resignation (high) Microsoft's board hired a law firm and opened an investigation after being notified that Bill Gates had sought to initiate a romantic relationship with a Microsoft employee roughly 20 years earlier. Reporting indicates this investigation occurred before or around the time Gates stepped down from the Microsoft board (Gates resigned from the board in 2020; media coverage and company statements about the investigation were published in May 2021).. United States v. Microsoft Corp. — landmark antitrust case and breakup order (medium) In United States v. Microsoft Corp. (trial beginning 1998), Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson found Microsoft had engaged in monopolization and on June 7, 2000 ordered the company to be split into two units. On June 28, 2001 the D.C. Circuit overturned the breakup order (while affirming many findings of fact), and the Department of Justice later reached a settlement with Microsoft (settlement announcements and final judgment activity occurred between 2001–2004). The record includes specific trial findings, videotaped deposition controversies, and a November 1, 2001 settlement proposal that altered remedies. (Key dates: May 18, 1998 — suit filed; Nov 5, 1999 — findings of fact issued; Apr 3, 2000 — conclusions of law; Jun 7, 2000 — breakup order; Jun 28, 2001 — appeals court decision; Nov 1, 2001 — DOJ settlement announcement.)