Bill Gates is coming clean about his association with Jeffrey Epstein after his name popped up in email documents.
In a Tuesday (Feb 24) town hall meeting, Gates spoke with employees of the Gates Foundation where he finally admitted to having not one, but two affairs during his 27-year marriage.
In a recording of the meeting, Gates apologized for spending time with Epstein and for involving foundation executives in meetings with him.
“I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made,” Gates told staff, according to the report.
He later told staffers that he had an affair with a Russian bridge player and a Russian nuclear physicist and that associate Boris Nikolic had discussed those relationships with Epstein, according to the Journal.
“I did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities,” he said.
He maintained that he “did nothing illicit” during his interactions with Epstein and did not stay overnight, although they met in several countries, The Wall Street Journal reported.
“I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” Gates reportedly told staff. “To be clear, I never spent any time with the victims, the women around him.”
Gates said his relationship with Epstein began in 2011 — three years after the sex offender pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution. The tech entrepreneur said he knew of an “18-month thing” placing restrictions on Epstein’s travel, but that he did not check his background.
Gates said that his then-wife Melinda expressed concerns about Epstein in 2013. Despite that concern, the relationship continued, which reportedly caused serious tension in his marriage. Melinda was said to be deeply uncomfortable with the association.
By 2021, Melinda filed for divorce, officially ending nearly three decades of marriage.
In a newly released statement, the Gates foundation said it never paid Epstein and no fund was ever created.
“The harm Epstein inflicted on women and girls was horrific, and no one should ever have to experience what they did,” the statement said.
Epstein died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The Gates Foundation, founded in 2000, remains one of the world’s largest funders of global health programs.