Bill Gates has acknowledged that he had two extramarital affairs during his marriage to Melinda French Gates and has expressed regret over his past association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Speaking at a town hall meeting on February 24, Gates admitted that the affairs later came to Epstein’s attention. However, he maintained that the women involved had no connection to Epstein’s crimes and said he was unaware of the financier’s illegal activities at the time.
“I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” Gates said, according to a recording reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. He added that he never spent time with any of Epstein’s victims.
Gates said one of the women was a Russian bridge player he met through competitive bridge tournaments, while the other was a Russian nuclear physicist he encountered during business-related interactions.
He stated that his former aide and science adviser, Boris Nikolic, had informed Epstein about the relationships, which is how Epstein became aware of them.
The Microsoft co-founder also addressed earlier reports suggesting that Epstein had threatened him over one of the relationships, involving bridge player Mila Antonova.
Now 70, Gates admitted that he failed to properly vet Epstein, even though he knew about the legal restrictions on Epstein’s travel.
He said he continued meeting Epstein until 2014 and had travelled with him on at least one private jet flight. However, Gates claimed he never stayed overnight at Epstein’s properties and never visited his private island.
Gates credited Melinda for being consistently skeptical about his association with Epstein. He also acknowledged that his connection to Epstein had negative consequences for others at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“I apologise to other people who were dragged into this because of the mistake I made. It goes against the values and goals of the foundation,” he said.
Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates were married from 1994 to 2021. Melinda has previously stated that Gates’ extramarital affairs and his ties to Epstein were factors in their divorce, though she has not gone into details.
As of Wednesday, Gates is the world’s 18th richest person, with an estimated net worth of $107.3 billion, according to Forbes.
