Bill Gates has refuted allegations stemming from newly released documents linked to Jeffrey Epstein, emphasizing their falsehood and expressing regret over their association. In an interview, Gates clarified that a draft email found in Epstein’s records, which contained unverified claims about him, was never sent and lacked credibility.
Bill Gates has denied allegations linked to his name after it appeared in millions of newly released documents related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, saying claims made in the files are false and that he regrets ever spending time with Epstein.
In an exclusive interview with Australia’s 9News, the Microsoft co-founder said the documents include a draft email found in Epstein’s account that was never sent and contains false allegations.
“Apparently, Jeffrey wrote an email to himself. That email was never sent. The email is false,” Gates said, adding, “I don’t know what his thinking was there. Was he trying to attack me in some way?”
Gates said he met Epstein in 2011 and had several dinners with him over a period of about three years but denied any criminal behaviour. He said he never visited Epstein’s private island and had no sexual relationships connected to Epstein.
“Every minute I spent with him, I regret, and I apologise that I did that,” he said.
The newly released documents reportedly include claims suggesting Epstein arranged meetings between Gates and women and that Gates contracted a sexually transmitted infection. His office immediately issued a statement denouncing the “absolutely absurd and completely false” assertion, but until now Gates, 70, has remained silent.
“The focus was always, he knew a lot of very rich people, and he was saying he could get them to give money to global health. In retrospect, that was a dead end,” Gates said. “I was foolish to spend time with him. I was one of many people who regret ever knowing him,” he said.
Epstein, a convicted sex offender, died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Gates said further disclosures would show he had no involvement in Epstein’s crimes.
“The more that comes out, the more clear it will be that, although the time was a mistake, it has nothing to do with that kind of behaviour,” he said.
Melinda French Gates, Gates’ former wife, said in a separate interview with NPR that the allegations brought back “very, very painful” memories from their marriage and said Gates was among those who had questions to answer about Epstein. The interview with Melinda French will be released in full by NPR on Thursday, after the network published excerpts and a three-minute video clip earlier this week addressing the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
In the interview, French Gates described the renewed attention surrounding the documents as a “reckoning as a society.” Speaking about Epstein’s victims, she said, “No girl should ever be put in the situation they were put in by Epstein and whatever was going on with all of the various people around him. It’s beyond heartbreaking.”
“I remember being those ages the girls were, I remember my daughters being those ages,” she added.
French Gates said she has moved on from her marriage, which she described as one she needed to leave, and said she is now in “a really unexpected, beautiful place in my life.”
“I’m so happy to be away from all the muck that was there,” she said.
Asked about her reaction to allegations involving her former husband, including claims that he attempted to secretly obtain antibiotics for her, French Gates said she felt “just unbelievable sadness.”
“I’m able to take my own sadness and look at those young girls and say, ‘My God, how did that happen to those girls?’ I hope there’s some justice for those now women. What they went through is unimaginable,” she said.
