Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has addressed his controversial association with the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, acknowledging it was a “huge mistake”.
“In retrospect, I was foolish to spend any time with him,” Mr Gates told Wall Street Journal. “I think I was quite stupid. I thought it would help me with global health philanthropy. It failed to do that. It was just a huge mistake.”
Bill Gates reportedly met with Jeffrey Epstein several times, even after his conviction. Mr Gates said they had no business or personal relationship, but records show he visited Epstein’s mansion multiple times. He cut off contact with Epstein in 2014. In an earlier CNN interview, Mr Gates admitted that meeting Epstein was a “mistake” and regretted it.
The billionaire also shared details about an unsettling encounter involving Epstein. According to reports, Epstein threatened to expose Gates’ alleged affair with Russian bridge player Mila Antonova in 2017 after Mr Gates declined to join his multibillion-dollar charitable fund with JPMorgan Chase.
Mr Epstein, who had known Antonova since 2013 and helped fund her software coding education, reportedly sought to leverage this information. Mr Gates admitted that the death of Epstein in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking and federal conspiracy, made him cautious about expanding his network. “I definitely became wary of building more connections,” he told the WSJ.
This controversial relationship with Epstein also impacted his personal life. His ex-wife, Melinda Gates, who was married to him from 1994 to 2021, claimed that Epstein played a significant role in the end of their marriage. “I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, no. I made that clear to him,” she told CBS Mornings in 2022. She also shared that her only encounter with Epstein left a lasting negative impression. “I regretted it the second I walked in the door,” she said. “He was abhorrent. He was evil personified. My heart breaks for these women.”
Just two days after his divorce was finalised, Bill Gates told CNN’s Anderson Cooper, “Melinda is a great person, and that partnership we had coming to an end is a source of great personal sadness.”
The Gates have managed to maintain an amicable relationship post-divorce and continue to co-parent their three adult children: Jennifer, 28, Rory, 25, and Phoebe, 22.
Jeffrey Epstein, a financier accused of sex trafficking, rape and abuse of minors, and operating a sex trafficking ring, died by suicide in 2019 while in custody.