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Invoice Gates apologized to workers of the Gates Basis over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, admitting he made errors that had forged a cloud over the philanthropic group whereas insisting he didn’t take part in Epstein’s crimes.
In a city corridor on Tuesday, the Microsoft co-founder acknowledged that he had two affairs with Russian ladies that Epstein later found, however that they didn’t contain Epstein’s victims. “I did nothing illicit. I noticed nothing illicit,” Gates stated, in accordance with a recording reviewed by The Wall Road Journal.
Gates stated photos within the just lately launched Epstein information displaying him with ladies whose faces are redacted have been footage that Epstein requested him to take with Epstein’s assistants after their conferences. “To be clear I by no means spent any time with victims, the ladies round him,” Gates stated.
“It was an enormous mistake to spend time with Epstein” and produce Gates Basis executives into conferences with the intercourse offender, Gates stated. “I apologize to different people who find themselves drawn into this due to the error that I made.”
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Microsoft co-founder Invoice Gates attends a dinner hosted by President Donald Trump with expertise leaders within the State Eating Room on the White Home in Washington, D.C., Sept. 4, 2025. (Saul Loeb/AFP by way of Getty Photos)
The billionaire stated he met with Epstein beginning in 2011, years after Epstein had pleaded responsible in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution. Gates stated he was conscious of some “18-month factor” that had restricted Epstein’s journey however stated he didn’t correctly examine his background. Gates stated he continued assembly with Epstein even after his then-wife Melinda French Gates expressed considerations in 2013.
“Realizing what I do know now makes it, , 100 instances worse when it comes to not solely his crimes up to now, however now it’s clear there was ongoing dangerous habits,” Gates advised workers. Talking of his ex-wife, he added: “To present her credit score, she was all the time sort of skeptical in regards to the Epstein factor.”
Gates advised workers on Tuesday that he continued assembly with Epstein by way of 2014, flew on a personal jet with Epstein and hung out with him in Germany, France, New York and Washington. “I by no means stayed in a single day,” he stated, or visited Epstein’s island.
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He stated Epstein “talked in regards to the sort of intimate relationship he had with a variety of billionaires, significantly Wall Road billionaires,” and that he might assist elevate cash for causes like international well being.
Gates stated as a result of Epstein had different prestigious folks at these conferences, that “made it simpler for me to really feel like this was a normalized state of affairs.” He stated he realizes that his affiliation with Epstein additionally helped the intercourse offender to burnish his status.
Gates admitted that his ties to Epstein and newly disclosed emails from the Justice Division information had forged a cloud over the Gates Basis and its status.
“It positively is the alternative of the values of the Basis and the objectives of the Basis,” he stated. “And our work may be very reputational delicate. I imply, folks can select to work with us or not work with us.”
The Division of Justice launched a trove of Epstein paperwork on Dec. 19 following President Trump’s signature on the Epstein Recordsdata Transparency Act in November 2025. (Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan by way of Getty Photos)
A Gates Basis spokesperson stated Gates holds city halls twice a 12 months and he “spoke candidly, addressing a number of questions intimately, and took accountability for his actions.”
Among the many just lately disclosed emails have been two messages Epstein despatched to himself in July 2013 that look like drafts styled as a resignation letter from Gates’s then science adviser, Boris Nikolic. The second e-mail referenced a Gates “marital dispute” and stated the writer had facilitated “illicit trysts.”
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Within the city corridor, Gates opened up about his private life. “I did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge participant who met me at bridge occasions, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met by way of enterprise actions,” he advised workers.
Gates stated that Nikolic, who was near each Gates and Epstein, knew of these affairs and advised Epstein about them. The physicist labored at one among Gates’s firms, although it’s unclear if he had that affair whereas she was his worker.
The Journal earlier this month reported that Epstein inserted himself into negotiations associated to Nikolic’s departure from Gates’s personal workplace and dangled allegations that Gates had engaged in extramarital affairs when he put the exit deal collectively. In an announcement, Nikolic beforehand advised the Journal the July 2013 emails “weren’t written on my behalf or at my request.”
Gates had an affair with a Russian bridge participant and Epstein later appeared to make use of his information to threaten Gates, the Journal reported in 2023. Gates met the lady round 2010, when she was in her 20s. Epstein met her in 2013 and later paid for her to attend software program coding faculty. In 2017, Epstein emailed Gates and requested to be reimbursed for the course.
Microsoft co-founder Invoice Gates speaks on the Gates Basis’s inaugural international Goalkeepers occasion within the Nordics, held in Stockholm, Sweden, on Jan. 22, 2026. (Stefan JERREVANG / TT Information Company / AFP by way of Getty Photos)
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In a July 4, 2013, e-mail to Nikolic, Epstein wrote: “Invoice dangers going from richest man to greatest hypocrite, melinda a laughing inventory, pledges will disappear consequently.” Epstein continued, naming two ladies with whom Gates had affairs, saying they “threat changing into in a single day sensations.”
Gates stated within the city corridor that 2014 was the final 12 months he met with Epstein, although there have been some “ancillary points” Epstein introduced up. “After that he continued to e-mail me,” Gates stated, including that he didn’t reply.
