'I Regret, I Apologise': Bill Gates Opens Up About Ties With Epstein

Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender who died in jail in 2019, had connections with many powerful people. Recently released documents have again mentioned Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, leading to questions about their association. Gates has said that meeting Epstein was a mistake and that he regrets it deeply. This followed comments made by his ex-wife, Melinda, in which she reportedly criticised his relationship with Epstein

What the documents claim

The latest release of the Epstein files also includes disturbing claims linked to Bill Gates. In a draft email among the documents, Epstein alleged that Gates engaged in extramarital affairs.

The draft claims that Epstein's relationship with Gates ranged from "helping Bill to get drugs, in order to deal with consequences of sex with russian girls, to facilitating his illicit trysts, with married women."

The documents also allege that Gates hid a sexually transmitted disease from his then-wife after contact with women described in the documents as “Russian girls.” 

These claims appear in emails connected to Epstein and have not been proven. Gates has strongly denied the accusations, and his representatives have said the messages were false.

"That email was never sent. The email is false," Gates said in an interview with 9News Australia. "I don't know what his thinking was there. Was he trying to attack me in some way?"

What Bill Gates has to say

On February 4, Gates finally spoke about his relationship with Epstein, denying the claims in the draft mail as “false." He suggested that he only met Epstein in 2011 and had dinner with him on several occasions to discuss investing in proposed scientific ventures. 

Gates insisted he never visited Epstein’s private Caribbean island (where numerous young women were allegedly abused), and stated he had no sexual relations with anyone there. 

"Every minute I spent with him, I regret, and I apologise," Gates said in the 9News interview. "I was foolish to spend time with him. I was one of many people who regret ever knowing him."

Melinda Gates speaks out

Gates's ex-wife, Melinda, in an interview with NPR on February 3, expressed her disapproval of Bill's friendship with Epstein. She said that the renewed attention has brought back difficult memories.

“For me, it’s personally hard whenever those details come up, right? Because it brings back memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage,” Melinda said in the interview.

“Whatever questions remain there of what - I can’t even begin to know all of it - those questions are for those people and for even my ex-husband. They need to answer to those things, not me.”

Melinda described the situation as deeply upsetting and said it reminded her of difficult times during her marriage. She also expressed sympathy for Epstein’s victims, saying she thought about them as a mother.

Melinda shared, “I’m able to take my own sadness and look at those young girls and say, ‘My God, how did that happen to those girls?’ I hope there’s some justice for those now women.”