American tech entrepreneur Bill Gates has apologised to staff at the Gates Foundation over his past ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, while maintaining that he did "nothing illicit," according to media reports. The Microsoft co-founder acknowledged in a town hall meeting that his association with Epstein was a "huge mistake" and said it had cast a cloud over the philanthropic organisation’s reputation. According to an exclusive report by The Wall Street Journal, Gates told employees during the town hall, "I did nothing illicit... I saw nothing illicit...To be clear, I never spent any time with victims, the women around him." Gates said that images in the recently released "Epstein files" showing him with women whose faces are redacted were photographs that Epstein had asked him to take with his assistants after meetings. "I apologise to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made," The Wall Street Journal quoted him as saying.
Meetings continued after Epstein's conviction
Gates first met Epstein in 2011, three years after Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution and continued meeting him through 2014, as per the Journal report. He acknowledged that he did not "properly check" Epstein's background, even though he was aware of an "18-month thing" that had limited Epstein’s travel. Gates also said he continued meeting Epstein even after concerns were raised in 2013 by his then-wife, Melinda French Gates. "To give her credit, she was always kind of sceptical about the Epstein thing," he said.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Gates flew on a private jet with Epstein and spent time with him in Germany, France, New York and Washington, though he said, "I never stayed overnight,” nor did he visit Epstein’s island. Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges, as per US media reports.
Affairs with Russian women admitted
In the town hall, Gates also admitted that he had two affairs with Russian women during his marriage. "I did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities," he said. He clarified that the affairs did not involve Epstein's victims. As per The New York Post, Epstein had previously referenced Gates' alleged relationships in emails, including one in July 2013 to Boris Nikolic, Gates' former science and technology adviser, though Nikolic denied authoring or requesting certain emails attributed to him.
The foundation's reputation hit
The controversy resurfaced after the US Department of Justice released tens of thousands of documents, collectively referred to as the "Epstein files", last month. The documents include emails, interview transcripts, photographs and call logs showing connections between Epstein and various public figures.
Earlier this month, the Gates Foundation said it did not make any financial payments to Epstein nor employ him at any time. Gates acknowledged that his ties with Epstein and the newly disclosed emails had negatively impacted the foundation. "It definitely is the opposite of the values of the Foundation and the goals of the Foundation. And our work is very reputation-sensitive. I mean, people can choose to work with us or not work with us," he added.
Founded in 2000 by Gates and his then-wife, the Gates Foundation is one of the world's largest funders of global health initiatives. While reiterating that he did not participate in any crimes, Gates admitted that his association with Epstein had helped the financier "burnish his reputation".
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