Fake Tinder Profiles Pop Up For Bill Gates, Soon After He Announces His Divorce

On 3rd May, Bill Gates—co-founder of the Microsoft Corporation, with an estimated net worth of $130.5 billion dollars—announced that his wife, Melinda, and him, are choosing to part ways after 27 years of marriage. 

Soon after the official statement regarding the divorce, parody profiles of the 'most eligible bachelor', Bill Gates, emerged on Tinder, an American geo-social networking and online dating app. One such fake profile listed Bill Gates to be working at 'multi-billionaire', along with the bio description, 'I can give you an exclusive third dose,' in reference to Bill and Melinda's vaccine initiative.

 

Another parody account read, "I’m still rich. I didn’t read your bio becoz I know what they all says, ‘I love dogs, pizza, not looking for hookups bla bla bla’ boring…I’ve seen trees with more personality." Furthermore, it went on to chart out the billionaires 'likes' to include Office365, vaccines, boring girls without personalities; and 'dislikes' to include iMacs, anti-vaxxers and google docs.

 

 

Apart from these, many other spoof profiles were created in the light of the sudden news—each one with an innovative (and often offensive) bio description. 

 

 

As the series of events unfolded, netizens kickstarted a 'Bill Gates Tinder' meme fest, exploiting the sensitive circumstances. Tinder sent out a warning for any potential catfishers, who were impersonating themselves as the Microsoft co-founder. They have reportedly revealed that they've got some serious tools to ensure that no one will be able to pass off with such a prank. In order to verify a Tinder profile, users must scan their mug with the facial recognition software, to ensure that they match the uploaded profile pictures. Tinder profiles are also reviewed and scanned for any oddities before going live, and, if someone does manage to make it through the system, other users can flag the profile for further investigation and verification.

 

Several memes and jokes have come to the surface post the divorce announcement by the billionaire couple: