Gates Gets Creamed Belgian Prankster Hits Microsoft Boss With Pie

Microsoft’s Bill Gates was creamed with something more hard-hitting than subpoenas or lawsuits on Wednesday: A faceful of pie.

The chairman of the world’s most powerful software maker was arriving for a meeting with Belgian business and government leaders when a prankster smacked his face with cream pie.

With cream dripping on the shoulders of his business suit and covering the lenses of his glasses, Gates was led into a side room to clean up. He later emerged, looking somewhat embarrassed.

He then met with Luc van den Brande, the prime minister of Flanders, Belgium’s Dutch-speaking northern half.

Police arrested two people, one of whom reportedly had distracted Gates while the other made his attack. Microsoft said it confirmed the cream pie was thrown by Noel Godin, a Belgian prankster who has struck at famous people before.

“Bill was obviously surprised by it, but he handled it with some grace,” Microsoft spokeswoman Erin Brewer said from the company’s Redmond, Wash., headquarters. “He commented that one of the worst things about this whole thing was that the pie wasn’t that tasty.”

U.S. television networks quickly started bidding as much as $4,000 for pictures of the world’s richest man getting creamed.

While the pie-throwing incident was unique, Gates is no stranger to getting targeted. The incident comes just two days after law enforcers from 11 states served Microsoft with subpoenas, mirroring the Justice Department’s probe into the company’s aggressive competitive practices.