Reuters
(New York, New York) – Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates acknowledged this week that he had two affairs during his marriage to Melinda French Gates and again addressed his controversial association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, calling the relationship a “huge mistake.”
Speaking candidly during a town hall with staff at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates said he traveled with Epstein on a private jet and met with him in the United States and abroad. However, he firmly denied participating in or witnessing any criminal activity.
“I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” Gates told employees. “To be clear, I never spent any time with the victims, the women around him.”
Affairs Revealed
During the meeting, Gates admitted to two extramarital relationships while still married to Melinda French Gates, whose 2021 divorce filing ended their 27-year marriage.
According to Gates, one affair involved Russian bridge player Mila Antonova, whom he met at competitive bridge tournaments around 2010. The second involved a Russian nuclear physicist he met through business engagements.
Epstein later had contact with Antonova while seeking funding for a bridge-related venture and reportedly paid for her to attend software coding school.
Internal emails revealed in previous reporting show Epstein referencing the alleged affairs in correspondence with Gates’ longtime science adviser, Boris Nikolic. In one 2013 message, Epstein warned that exposure of the relationships could severely damage Gates’ public reputation and philanthropic commitments.
Nikolic has publicly denied authoring or endorsing certain emails attributed to him in Epstein-related disclosures.
Continued Contact After Conviction
Gates first met Epstein in 2011 — several years after Epstein’s 2008 Florida conviction for procuring a minor for prostitution. Despite concerns raised by Melinda French Gates, he continued to socialize with the financier for a period of time.
At the town hall, Gates acknowledged that his ex-wife had long been uneasy about the relationship.
“To give her credit, she was always kind of skeptical about the Epstein thing,” he said.
Gates stated that while he met Epstein in New York, Washington, Germany, and France, he never visited Epstein’s private Caribbean island.
“A Huge Mistake”
Gates has previously described his association with Epstein as misguided. In prior remarks, he said he believed maintaining contact might benefit global health philanthropy efforts — an expectation he now says proved unfounded.
“I thought it would help me with global health philanthropy. In fact, it failed to do that. It was just a huge mistake.”
He also apologized to foundation employees and others who have faced scrutiny because of the controversy.
“I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake I made,” Gates said. “It definitely is the opposite of the values of the foundation and the goals of the foundation.”
A spokesperson for the foundation said Gates “spoke candidly” during the meeting and “took responsibility for his actions.”
The renewed scrutiny comes as Epstein-related documents continue to draw public attention years after the financier’s 2019 death while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
