Bill Gates and his alleged longstanding ties with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has come under renewed scrutiny after the tech billionaire’s name came up in the documents released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on January 30.
Talking to his employees at a town hall on Tuesday, February 24, Gates admitted that the two affairs referred to in the Epstein files were true. He said, “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.”
However, though he admitted to having those affairs, Gates remained consistent on his claim that he was never involved in any illegal activities. Emphasizing the same, he said, “I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit.”
Bill Gates admitted to two affairs while married. He flew on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane and said, “I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit.” Epstein allegedly tried to blackmail him. NYP pic.twitter.com/tNZZd2MGoC
— News Now (@NewsNowUS) February 25, 2026
The newly released materials are dated long after 2008, the year Epstein was convicted for soliciting a minor for prostitution. In one of the emails, Epstein claimed that he had arranged “sex with Russian girls” on behalf of Gates.
Moreover, one draft also referred to a sexually transmitted disease that might have affected the billionaire because of one of those encounters, and also mentioned administering antibiotics to Melinda French Gates, his then-wife.
However, it should be noted that there is no graspable evidence of those emails being ever sent to Gates. He has also always denied these allegations. Moreover, according to the latest bunch of files, Epstein had threatened that he would make Gates’ affair with Mila Antonova public, after he came to know about them from Gates’ then-science adviser, Boris Nikolic.
There is also evidence of Epstein getting himself involved in Nikolic’s negotiations during his departure as he used his knowledge of those affairs as leverage. The new files also feature images of Gates with women whose faces have been obscured.
Gates addressed those images on February 24 saying that those were clicked because Epstein wanted them, and added, “To be clear I never spent any time with victims, the women around him.”
He further said, “It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein. I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made.” However, he also emphasized the fact that he never spent any night at Epstein’s private island and claimed that he met with him strictly because of philanthropic reasons.
BREAKING: Bill Gates apologized to foundation staff over Epstein ties. Billionaire admitted that he had two affairs with Russian women — WSJ pic.twitter.com/MEIK5Ke8nz
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) February 25, 2026
Looking back, he admitted, “Knowing what I know now makes it, you know, a hundred times worse in terms of not only his crimes in the past, but now it’s clear there was ongoing bad behavior.”
He also mentioned his ex-wife Melinda’s skepticism about the late financier, saying, “To give her credit, she was always kind of skeptical about the Epstein thing.” Melida had previously mentioned that Gates’ ties with Epstein was one of the reasons behind their divorce.
While Gates has admitted his mistake and his affairs, his name on the list and the evidence of his relationship with Epstein are bound to affect the reputation of his work and foundation. Gates himself acknowledged the same, saying, “It definitely is the opposite of the values of the foundation and the goals of the foundation. And our work is very reputational sensitive. I mean, people can choose to work with us or not work with us.”
