When Bill Gates was asked to reflect on his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire financier who was convicted of sex crimes, the Microsoft co-founder said Wednesday night that he regretted meeting with Epstein and acknowledged what he called “a huge mistake.”
“It was a huge mistake to spend time with him, to give him the credibility of being there,” said Gates, whose net worth is estimated at $130 billion. He added, “You know, there were lots of others in that same situation, but I made a mistake.”
“I had several dinners with him…It was a huge mistake.” - Bill Gates on his time spent with Jeffrey Epstein pic.twitter.com/Mpdty9s7H3
— Tim O'Brien (@TimOBrien) August 5, 2021
Gates’s relationship with Epstein began around 2011, years after the hedge-fund manager had already been convicted, and the men met multiple times at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse, the New York Times reported. Epstein had previously pleaded guilty to two prostitution charges and served 13 months in prison as part of a non-prosecution deal with Miami federal prosecutors in 2008. As part of that deal, Epstein had to register as a sex offender and pay restitution to those victims identified by the FBI.
After he first met with Epstein in 2011, Gates emailed colleagues about how “his lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing although it would not work for me.” Bridgitt Arnold, a spokeswoman for Gates, later told the Times that Gates “was referring only to the unique decor of the Epstein residence — and Epstein’s habit of spontaneously bringing acquaintances in to meet Mr. Gates.”
Less than a decade later, Epstein was accused of operating a sex trafficking ring in which he sexually abused dozens of girls in the early 2000s. One month after his arrest on sex trafficking charges, Epstein was found dead in a jail cell in August 2019. An autopsy determined his death was a result of suicide by hanging, although his lawyers said they were dissatisfied with the conclusion.
Gates on Wednesday also discussed his divorce from Melinda French Gates, which was finalized this week, and called it “definitely a very sad milestone.”
French Gates had hired divorce lawyers in 2019 when news of her husband’s meetings with Epstein became public, according to the Wall Street Journal. In May, Gates acknowledged through Arnold that he had an extramarital affair with a Microsoft employee, which Microsoft said led its board to investigate the “intimate relationship” shortly before he resigned from the board last year.
While it’s unclear what role the investigation or the affair, which took place two decades ago, played in the decision to end the 27-year marriage, French Gates said in a divorce filing that their union was “irretrievably broken.” The couple posted identical and simultaneous tweets in May announcing the split.
Gates declined to elaborate on Wednesday whether his relationship with Epstein played a role in the divorce.
“It’s a time of reflection, and at this point, I need to go forward,” Gates said to CNN. “Within the family, we’ll heal the best that we can.”
The former power couple in the world of philanthropy have pledged to keep working together at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, whose $65 billion endowment makes it, by most measures, the largest private charitable foundation in the world. The foundation issued nearly $55 billion in total grant payments through the end of 2019, with much of the focus on global health, gender equality and poverty reduction.
But if they are unable to continue working together after two years, Gates would give French Gates “personal resources” to resign and for philanthropic purposes separate from the foundation, according to a statement last month.
“Melinda has incredible strengths that she brings that help the foundation be better,” Gates said Wednesday. “We’ve always enjoyed our work together. The two of us can go out and work with leaders and help build the organization. That would definitely be the best thing for the foundation.”
Pressed on whether he had regrets of how the situation has played out, Gates was concise: “Certainly, everyone does.”
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