Bill Gates apologizes to Gates Foundation staff for Epstein relationship, admits they have issues

Microsoft founder Bill Gates apologized to the employees of his philanthropic center over his obligations to Jeffrey Epsteintold attendees at a Gates Foundation town hall event on Tuesday that his mistakes overshadowed the group’s work, but denied he had any involvement or knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.

While not directly confirming the apology, a spokesperson for the Gates Foundation told CBS News that Gates “answered questions sent by foundation staff about a number of issues, including the release of the Epstein files, the foundation’s work on AI, and the future of global health. In town, Bill spoke frankly, answered several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions.”

The Wall Street Journal first reported the billionaire’s apology on Tuesday, saying it had reviewed his recorded remarks.

“It was a big mistake to spend time with Epstein,” Gates said, according to the Journal. “I apologize to other people who got into this because of the mistake I made.”

“I didn’t do anything illegal. I didn’t see anything illegal,” Gates said, according to the newspaper.

Gates said he first met Epstein in 2011, three years after the late financier was convicted of federal charges including soliciting a minor for prostitution, which earned him an 18-month sentence in a minimum security facility. Gates told staff he was aware of the “18-month thing” that had reduced Epstein’s travel, but said he did not check his background, according to the Journal.

“Knowing what I know now makes it, you know, a hundred times worse in terms of just his past crimes, but now it’s clear that there was ongoing misconduct,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. Gates also praised his ex-wife and foundation founder Melinda French Gates, who he said had always been “skeptical” about Epstein.

The Journal said Gates told staff that he continued to meet with Epstein until 2014, including flying on a private jet and spending time with him in Germany, France, New York and Washington, but he adamantly denied ever sleeping with Epstein or visiting the sex offender’s private island in the US Virgin Islands.

Among the many Epstein-related documents released by the US Department of Justice, two emails Epstein sent to him on July 18, 2013, contained unsubstantiated allegations that Gates slept with “Russian girls” outside of marriage which resulted in a sexually transmitted infection requiring antibiotic treatment. In another email, Epstein said Gates also wanted to “covertly administer” antibiotics to his then-wife Melinda Gates.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Gates admitted to City Hall staff on Tuesday that he “had affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities.”

Bill and Melinda Gates are divorced in 2021 after 27 years of marriage. Earlier this month, French Gates said on an NPR podcast that she felt “incredibly sad” about her ex-husband’s name appearing in the Epstein files.

“For me, it’s difficult for me personally whenever those details come out, right? Because it brings back memories of the most painful times in my marriage,” he said.

Gates also said Tuesday that his relationship with Epstein had interfered with his philanthropic work, and that he had maintained a relationship with the disgraced financier in hopes of raising funding for global health, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Epstein “talked about the kind of close relationships he had with billionaires, especially Wall Street billionaires,” Gates said, adding that Epstein had other dignitaries at the meetings “which made it easy for me to feel like this was a normal situation.”

The Gates Foundation released a statement earlier this month acknowledging the exchange between foundation staff and Epstein that was made public by the Justice Department.

“On the basis of Epstein’s claims that he could mobilize important resources for health aid and development around the world, a small number of foundation staff worked with Epstein to try to secure this potential funding. Ultimately, the foundation did not pursue any partnership with Epstein and no fund was ever created. At no time were financial payments made by the foundation to Epstein at that time, nor was the foundation’s statement used at that time,” the foundation’s statement said. that it “regrets that any employees engaged with Epstein in any way.”