Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has openly acknowledged having had two extramarital affairs with Russian women and apologised to staff at the Gates Foundation for his past association with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, describing that connection as a “huge mistake.
Gates addressed his foundation’s employees at a town hall meeting on February 24, shortly after the U.S. Department of Justice released a large trove of files linked to investigations into Epstein’s crimes.
In remarks reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, he said he deeply regretted his relationship with Epstein and the impact it had on the foundation’s work.
“I apologise to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made,” Gates said, while insisting that he “did nothing illicit” and had not witnessed any illegal conduct related to Epstein’s criminal activities.
In his comments, Gates confirmed that he had two affairs with women — one described as a Russian bridge player and another as a Russian nuclear physicist — but stressed that these relationships were unrelated to any victims of Epstein and had been separate from his philanthropic work.
Gates also addressed photos and documents included in the recently released files, saying some images showing him with unidentified women were taken at the request of Epstein’s associates after meetings, not during any wrongdoing. He emphasised that he had never spent time with Epstein’s victims.
The billionaire acknowledged he first met Epstein in 2011, years after the financier’s 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution, and admitted he continued the association into 2014 despite concerns raised by others. Gates said at the time he did not conduct a thorough background check and now views the relationship with regret.
His remarks reflect Gates’s effort to confront renewed scrutiny after the release of millions of pages of Justice Department files related to the Epstein case, which had earlier prompted controversy and raised questions about the links between powerful figures and the disgraced financier.
In discussing his personal conduct, Gates acknowledged that learning more about Epstein’s crimes made his own interactions seem “a hundred times worse” and stressed that the foundation’s reputation is highly sensitive to how its leaders engage with others.
Gates’s comments come as the Gates Foundation continues its global health and philanthropic initiatives, but the disclosed ties have underscored the challenges high-profile organisations face when past associations resurface in public scrutiny.
