Bill Gates has acknowledged having affairs with two Russian women and apologised to staff of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation over what he described as a “huge mistake” in maintaining ties with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The Microsoft co-founder addressed employees during a town hall meeting held on Tuesday, February 24, where he responded to questions following renewed public attention on his past association with Epstein.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Gates admitted that he had engaged in two affairs with Russian women and said Epstein later became aware of those relationships. However, he insisted that the women involved were not connected to any of Epstein’s victims.
“I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” Gates told staff, according to a recording cited in the report. He also apologised to foundation employees for the reputational impact of his past decisions.
“I apologise to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made,” he said, referring to his meetings with Epstein and the involvement of foundation executives in some of those discussions.
Previously released documents from the U.S. Department of Justice show that Gates met Epstein multiple times after the financier had completed a prison sentence. The meetings were reportedly focused on potential philanthropic initiatives. The documents also contained photographs of Gates posing with women whose identities were redacted.
Addressing the images during the town hall, Gates said the photographs were taken at Epstein’s request and involved assistants present after meetings. “To be clear, I never spent any time with victims, the women around him,” he added.
A spokesperson for the Gates Foundation confirmed that Gates had held a scheduled town hall session where he spoke candidly and took responsibility for his actions. The foundation reiterated that it had not made any financial payments to Epstein nor employed him at any time.
The renewed scrutiny comes amid broader attention to Epstein’s network of associates. Separately, Gates recently withdrew from India’s AI Impact Summit just hours before he was scheduled to deliver a keynote address.
