Gates connection to Eclipse aerospace who make the VLJ 500, 550 etc.
>Eclipse founder and former CEO Vern Raburn was one of the first business executives at Microsoft. Consequently, Bill Gates became a major stake-holder in the Albuquerque, New Mexico-based Eclipse project.[12] The VLJ concept has been pursued by a number of manufacturers, and because the V-Jet II had been designed around one of the primary VLJ engines, Eclipse believed it was an ideal design to refine and market.
Model 500 VLJ was based on Burt Rutan's design - like so much else. Rutan has done the far and away most innovative design - including a change in the way the physics of flight was understood.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_500
probably coincidence.