In a Tuesday interview with 9 News Australia, Microsoft founder Bill Gates called his relationship with dead, convicted child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein a “mistake” but also denied the latest claims made about him by Epstein in the millions of emails and files released last week by the Justice Department.
Gates is mentioned several times by name in the Epstein Files. In 2013, Epstein sent emails to himself in which he alleged that Gates used him to facilitate extramarital affairs with married women, as well as get medication to treat an STD he got from “sex with Russian girls.” Epstein also claimed that Gates wanted to give the same medication to his then-wife Melinda French Gates in secret.
“I had a number of dinners with him,” Gates told 9 News Australia about his relationship with Epstein. “I’ve said many times, but [I’ll] say again, I was foolish to spend time with him. I was one of many people who regret ever knowing him.” When asked if the latest allegations against him were true, Gates swiftly responded, “No.”
“It just reminds me, every minute I spent with him, I regret and I apologize that I did that,” Gates added. “It’s factually true that I was only at dinners [with him]. You know, I never went to the island, I never met any women.”
Gates’ comments come the same week his ex-wife Melinda sat down with NPR and addressed the latest allegations against her former husband.
“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,” Gates said during her appearance on NPR’s “Wild Card” podcast. “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.”
When she was asked what “dominant emotion” she felt when she heard about the latest emails, French Gates said, “Just unbelievable sadness.”
“It’s just sadness. I left my marriage. I had to leave my marriage. I wanted to leave my marriage,” she added. “I felt I needed to eventually leave the foundation. So it’s just sad. That’s the truth.”
It has been previously reported that the Microsoft founder’s relationship with Epstein, which began in 2011 three years after the sex trafficker had already pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor, was one of the key disagreements that led to the Gates’ divorce in 2021. French Gates reportedly expressed discomfort to her husband about the time he was spending with Epstein, but that did not stop him from continuing to do so. Her displeasure only grew when Gates’ connection to Epstein was made public in 2019.
Gates, for his part, insisted again in his interview this week that his relationship with Epstein had “nothing to do with that kind of behavior,” regarding the latter’s sex trafficking operations. Despite having already been repeatedly questioned about his connection to Epstein, though, Gates told 9 News Australia he does not view the public’s interest in the matter as “frustrating.”
“People should hold people who are successful to a very high bar,” Gates said. “So, you know, as these documents come out, they’re going to be closely scrutinized.”
