Billionaire Bill Gates is once again attempting to address his controversial ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, admitting his association with the disgraced financier was a “huge mistake.” However, for many, the Microsoft co-founder’s explanations raise more questions than they answer.
Speaking to *The Wall Street Journal,* Gates, now 69, described his involvement with Epstein as a lapse in judgment. “In retrospect, I was foolish to spend any time with him,” he confessed. “I think I was quite stupid. I thought it would help me with global health philanthropy. In fact, it failed to do that. It was just a huge mistake.” Yet, despite Gates’ regretful tone, the story of how he found himself entangled with Epstein — and why he stayed involved after Epstein’s crimes became public — continues to invite scrutiny.
Epstein, who died in 2019 under suspicious circumstances while awaiting trial for sex trafficking, had reportedly used his connections with powerful individuals like Gates to enhance his own reputation. The relationship between Gates and Epstein reportedly included multiple meetings and discussions of philanthropy, but it seems Epstein had ulterior motives. In 2017, Epstein allegedly threatened to expose Gates’ alleged affair with Russian bridge player Mila Antonova after Gates declined to invest in Epstein’s JPMorgan-backed charitable fund.
The shadow of that affair looms large. Epstein reportedly knew Antonova as far back as 2013 and even funded her software coding education. Gates, for his part, allegedly had a relationship with Antonova during his marriage to Melinda French Gates, which lasted from 1994 to 2021. The divorce, finalized shortly after Epstein’s name came up in the public sphere, has only deepened suspicions surrounding Gates’ judgment. Melinda has been vocal about her disdain for her ex-husband’s association with Epstein, calling it one of the reasons she decided to end their 27-year marriage.
“I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, no. I made that clear to him,” Melinda said in a 2022 interview with CBS. She recounted meeting Epstein once, saying, “I regretted it the second I walked in the door. He was abhorrent. He was evil personified. My heart breaks for these women.”
Despite these revelations, Gates continues to insist his intentions were purely philanthropic. In a 2021 interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, he reiterated that his meetings with Epstein were aimed at securing “billions of philanthropy for global health.” However, critics argue that Gates, one of the wealthiest men in the world, hardly needed Epstein to fund his charitable efforts.
Adding to the intrigue, Gates recently told *The Times of London* that his divorce from Melinda is the “mistake” he regrets most. Meanwhile, both have moved on — Melinda is dating entrepreneur Philip Vaughn, and Gates is now in a relationship with Paula Hurd. But no amount of personal reinvention can erase the questions surrounding his judgment in aligning with Epstein.
For a man who has long positioned himself as a global do-gooder, Gates’ willingness to work with a convicted sex offender casts a shadow over his carefully cultivated image. Was his association with Epstein truly a “mistake,” or a calculated risk gone wrong? For many, Gates’ regrets come too late to be convincing.
