Bill Gates says Gates Foundation staffer’s time with Epstein was ‘big mistake’
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Bill Gates apologized to Gates Foundation staff for his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, admitting that he made mistakes that clouded the philanthropic group while insisting that he had no involvement in Epstein’s crimes.
In a town hall Tuesday, the Microsoft co-founder admitted to having two affairs with Russian women that Epstein later discovered, but did not involve Epstein’s victims. “I didn’t do anything illegal. I didn’t see anything illegal,” Gates said, according to a transcript reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.
Gates said that the photos in Epstein’s files that were recently released show him with women with face-paintings that Epstein asked him to take with Epstein’s assistants after their meetings. “To be clear, I never spent time with the victims, the women around him,” Gates said.
“It was a big mistake to spend time with Epstein” and bring Gates Foundation executives into meetings with a sex offender, Gates said. “I apologize to other people who got into this because of the mistake I made.”
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Microsoft founder Bill Gates attends a dinner hosted by President Donald Trump with technology leaders in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, DC, September 4, 2025. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
The billionaire said he met Epstein in 2011, years after Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a child for prostitution. Gates said he was aware of the “18-month thing” that had limited Epstein’s mobility but said he had not looked closely into his background. Gates said he continued to meet with Epstein even after his ex-wife Melinda French Gates raised concerns in 2013.
“Knowing what I know now makes it, you know, a hundred times worse in terms of his past crimes, but now it’s clear that there was misconduct going on,” Gates told staff. Speaking of his ex-wife, he added: “To give her credit, she was always skeptical about the Epstein thing.”
Gates told staff on Tuesday that he continued to meet with Epstein until 2014, flew on a private jet with Epstein and spent time with him in Germany, France, New York and Washington. “I never slept through the night,” he said, even when I visited Epstein’s Island.
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He said Epstein “talked about the kind of close relationships he had with a lot of billionaires, especially Wall Street billionaires,” and that he could help raise money for causes like global health.
Gates said that because Epstein had other respected people in the meetings, that “made it easier for me to feel like this was a normal situation.” He said he realizes that his association with Epstein also helped the sex offender to tarnish his reputation.
Gates has acknowledged that his relationship with Epstein and newly disclosed emails from Justice Department files cast a cloud over the Gates Foundation and its reputation.
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“It certainly goes against the principles of the Foundation and the goals of the Foundation,” he said. “And our work is very sensitive. I mean, people can choose to work with us or not work with us.”
The Justice Department released dozens of Epstein documents on Dec. 19 following President Trump’s signing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November 2025. (Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images/Getty Images)
A spokeswoman for the Gates Foundation said Gates holds town halls twice a year and “was very forthright, answered many questions with detail, and took responsibility for his actions.”
Among the recently disclosed emails were two messages Epstein sent himself in July 2013 that appeared to be written resignation letters from Gates’ then-science adviser Boris Nikolic. The second email mentioned Gates’ “marital conflict” and said the author had made “illegal attempts.”
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At the town hall, Gates opened up about his private life. “I’ve had affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and another with a Russian nuclear physicist I met through business,” he told staff.
Gates said Nikolic, who was close to Gates and Epstein, knew about the news and told Epstein about it. This doctor worked for one of Gates’ companies, although it is not clear if he had that love while he was working.
The Journal reported earlier this month that Epstein inserted himself into discussions surrounding Nikolic’s departure from Gates’ private office and dismissed allegations that Gates was involved in extramarital affairs while putting together the exit agreement. In a statement, Nikolic told the Journal that the July 2013 emails “were not written on my behalf or at my request.”
Gates had an affair with a Russian bridge player and Epstein later appeared to use his information to threaten Gates, the Journal reported in 2023. Gates met this woman around 2010, when he was 20 years old. Epstein met him in 2013 and later paid for him to attend coding school. In 2017, Epstein emailed Gates and asked to be reimbursed for his studies.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates speaks at the Gates Foundation’s first Global Guardians in the Nordics event, held in Stockholm, Sweden, on Jan. 22, 2026. (Stefan JERRAVANG / TT News Agency / AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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In a July 4, 2013, email to Nikolic, Epstein wrote: “Bill is in danger of going from the richest man to the biggest hypocrite, melinda laugher, promises will be destroyed as a result.” Epstein continued, naming two women with whom Gates had affairs, saying they were “at risk of having a night out.”
Gates said at the town hall that 2014 was the last year he met with Epstein, even though there were “related issues” that Epstein raised. “After that he continued to email me,” Gates said, adding that he did not respond.
