Microsoft shareholders have piled pressure on the company to increase transparency over its sexual harassment record in the wake of allegations made against Bill Gates.

More than three quarters of investors at its annual meeting voted for the tech giant to publish a report on the effectiveness of its workplace sexual harassment policies, defying company recommendations to reject the proposal.

Mr Gates, 66, resigned from Microsoft’s board last year after it opened an investigation into an affair he had with a colleague that began in 2000.

The affair only emerged in May this year, weeks after Bill and Melinda Gates announced that they planned to divorce.

Reports have since emerged that Mr Gates, who co-founded Microsoft, had made repeated unwanted advances to employees after the couple married in 1994, and was warned about his conduct in 2008.

Loading

The shareholder proposal, submitted by activist investor Arjuna Capital, called for Microsoft to release a -transparency report that would include details of investigations into individual employees’ conduct.

“Reports of Bill Gates’s inappropriate relationships and sexual advances towards Microsoft employees have only exacerbated concerns, putting into question the culture set by top leadership, and the board’s role holding those culpable accountable,” Arjuna had said.

Microsoft’s board had urged shareholders to reject the proposal, arguing that it was already putting more resources into tackling sexual harassment.