Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates admitted to employees that he had affairs with two Russian women while married to ex-wife Melinda French Gates and that disgraced financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein knew of his transgressions, but he denied any involvement in Epstein’s alleged abuse.
Key Facts
- Gates spoke at length about his connection to Epstein at a town hall for Gates Foundation employees on Tuesday that has since been reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, admitting to the affairs but denying he ever spent “any time with the victims” of Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking.
- Gates said he’d had affairs with a Russian bridge player and a Russian nuclear physicist, and said that Epstein later discovered the relationships, an admission in line with reports Epstein used the information to threaten Gates in the mid 2010s.
- The billionaire said he met with Epstein on several occasions but told employees he “never stayed overnight,” never visited Epstein’s island and never did or saw anything “illicit.”
- He also added that Melinda, who has in the past suggested Gates’ association with the “abhorrent” Epstein contributed to the breakdown of their marriage, “was always kind of skeptical about the Epstein thing.”
- Gates said his relationship with Epstein lasted from 2011, years after Epstein was convicted of soliciting a minor, to 2014, adding that the financier continued to email him after that but he didn’t respond.
Key Background
Gates’ name has appeared among the trove of Epstein files released by the Department of Justice. The files include a number of communications in which Epstein makes scandalous allegations against the tech founder, including that he used drugs and contracted a sexually transmitted disease during an “illicit tryst” before “surreptitiously” giving antibiotics for the disease to his then wife.
The Gates Foundation has decried the allegations as “absolutely absurd and completely false.” In a rare public comment, Gates last month said he did meet Epstein for dinners but, “I never went to the island. I never met any women. And so, you know, the more that comes out, the more clear it’ll be that although the time was a mistake, it had nothing to do with that kind of behavior.”
No documents allege Gates participated in or or had knowledge of the financier’s alleged sex trafficking, and the billionaire has repeatedly insisted his relationship with Epstein was strictly related to business and charity. At Tuesday’s town hall, he told employees Epstein talked to him “about the kind of intimate relationship he had with a lot of billionaires, particularly Wall Street billionaires,” and told Gates he could help raise money for his charitable causes.
Tangent
The DOJ’s Epstein files have revealed details of Gates’ relationship with Epstein. The pair met for the first time in January of 2011 at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse after they were connected by two Gates Foundation officials. Gates “ended up staying there quite late,” he wrote in an email the next day, adding Epstein’s “lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing although it would not work for me.”
Emails suggest the pair met regularly from 2011 to 2014, and that Epstein tried to elicit Gates’ help in planning a charity fund with JPMorgan Chase and other billionaire donors. Emails show Gates was in support of the idea, but was worried about Epstein’s reputation and the need to rehabilitate his image after his 2011 conviction. Gates and Epstein’s plans for the fund appeared to fizzle out at the end of 2014.
The documents also show that Gates flew on Epstein’s private plane, though a spokesperson later told the New York Times Gates was not aware it was Epstein’s plane. Gates has denied ever having visited Epstein’s private island, where much of his abuse of minors is said to have taken place, though an October 2011 email to Epstein included a reminder that said, “gates to island.”
Forbes Valuation
Gates is the 18th richest person in the world Wednesday with an estimated net worth of $107.3 billion. Gates and his ex-wife were together ranked No. 2 on Forbes’ list of America’s 25 most generous philanthropists, having given a combined $47.7 billion to charity so far. They’ve given away 26% of their combined net worth and their giving focuses largely on global health and poverty alleviation.
This article was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
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