At Least It Wasn’t an Apple Pie

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates was hit with something messier than a subpoena or a lawsuit Wednesday: a cream pie.

The co-founder of the world’s most powerful software company was arriving for a meeting with Belgian business and government leaders when a prankster smacked him in the face with a pie.

Gates, with food covering his glasses and the shoulders of his business suit, was led into a side room to clean up. When he emerged, he appeared somewhat embarrassed.

Police arrested two people, one of whom reportedly had distracted Gates while the other allegedly carried out the attack. Microsoft said it confirmed that the pie was thrown by Noel Godin, a Belgian known for throwing pies at famous people.

“Bill was obviously surprised by it, but he handled it with some grace,” Microsoft spokeswoman Erin Brewer said from company headquarters in Redmond, Wash.

“He commented that one of the worst things about this whole thing was that the pie wasn’t that tasty.”

U.S. TV networks quickly started bidding, some going as high as $4,000, for pictures of one of the world’s wealthiest people getting creamed.