Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has admitted that he was involved in two extramarital affairs with two Russian women while married to Melinda French Gates and has issued a groveling apology for his links to convicted pedophile and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Gates, 70, spoke candidly with staff at his foundation on Tuesday, admitting that he had traveled on a private jet with the disgraced financier and spent time with him both in the United States and overseas. He stressed, however, that while he was in those settings, he was never involved in any criminal activity. "I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit," Gates said in the town hall meeting.
Admitting His Mistakes
"To be clear, I never spent any time with the victims, the women around him," he added. Gates first met Epstein in 2011, years after Epstein's Florida conviction for soliciting a minor and continued to spend time with him, even as concerns were reportedly raised by French Gates.
While the billionaire has always denied any wrongdoing connected to Epstein, he has since acknowledged allegations of infidelity during his marriage. French Gates filed for divorce in 2021, bringing an end to their 27-year relationship.
"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 told staffers.
Epstein had earlier threatened Gates over his alleged affair with Russian bridge player Mila Antonova.
Epstein reportedly met Antonova while trying to line up funding for a bridge academy and later covered the cost for her to attend a software coding program. Gates, meanwhile, is said to have met Antonova back in 2010, when they were both competing at the same bridge tournament.
In a July 4, 2013, email to Boris Nikolic, Epstein alleged that Gates had been involved in affairs with two women. In the message, Epstein ominously suggested that the women could end up "becoming overnight sensations."
"Bill risks going from richest man to biggest hypocrite, Melinda a laughing stock, pledges will disappear as a result," Epstein told Nikolic.
Not an Affair to Remember
Just a few weeks after that, Epstein sent an email to himself framed as a "resignation," appearing to write it as though it had come from Nikolic. "During the past few weeks I have been caught up in a severe marital dispute between Melinda and Bill," the email said.
The message went on to imply that Nikolic had helped Gates obtain medication to cope with what it described as the fallout from sexual encounters with Russian women. Nikolic has firmly rejected that claim, saying the emails were neither written by him nor authorized by him.
Speaking during the town hall, Gates also admitted that he had spent time with Epstein in places including New York, Germany, France, and Washington. However, he was clear in stating that he never traveled to Epstein's private island.
Gates acknowledged that his former wife had long been uneasy about his association with Epstein. Reflecting on that, he said, "To give her credit, she was always kind of skeptical about the Epstein thing."
Gates also admitted that his past connection with Epstein didn't just affect him personally, but had repercussions for others as well, including people working within the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
"I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake I made," he said.
"It definitely is the opposite of the values of the foundation and the goals of the foundation."
