Bill Gates Took Responsibility and Apologized to Foundation Staff Over Jeffrey Epstein Ties
Bill Gates spoke directly to employees at his philanthropic organisation in a town hall on Tuesday, apologising for his contacts with Jeffrey Epstein and saying he had taken responsibility for his actions. The exchanges came as newly released Department of Justice files and other materials have intensified scrutiny of his relationship with the late financier.
Bill Gates addresses staff at Gates Foundation town hall
At the scheduled town hall—one of the twice-yearly meetings the Microsoft co-founder holds with staff—Bill Gates answered submitted questions on a range of topics and addressed the release of the Epstein files, the foundation’s work in artificial intelligence and the future of global health. He apologised to other people drawn into the matter and said he spoke candidly, answering several questions in detail.
Department of Justice file release in January renewed scrutiny
The Department of Justice files released in January prompted renewed attention to Gates’s interactions with Epstein. The files included emails and images that have been central to the recent public review; the release prompted Gates to confront staff questions about what he had known and why he met Epstein after the financier’s earlier conviction.
Meetings with Jeffrey Epstein occurred from 2011 through 2014
Gates said he first met Jeffrey Epstein in 2011, several years after Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution. He acknowledged continuing to meet Epstein through 2014 and spending time with him abroad, while emphasising that he never stayed overnight or visited Epstein’s island. Gates said he was aware of an "18-month thing" that had limited Epstein’s travel but acknowledged he did not properly check Epstein’s background.
Images released by the US House Oversight Committee and file contents
The released materials included images in which women’s faces were redacted; Gates said those pictures were taken at Epstein’s request and that Epstein had asked him to take photos with his assistants after meetings. An image was also released by the US House Oversight Committee in December last year and has formed part of the public record under review.
Admissions of affairs, denial of illicit conduct and an extortion claim involving Mila Antonova
Gates admitted to two affairs with Russian women—a bridge player he met at bridge events and a nuclear physicist he met through business activities—and said Epstein later learned of those relationships. He denied participating in Epstein’s crimes, stating, "I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit, " and insisted he "never spent any time with victims, the women around him. " The files also contained an email claim that Gates had contracted a sexually transmitted infection and sought antibiotics to give to his then-wife; Gates has denied that allegation.
Gates said Epstein tried to apply pressure over the affair with the bridge player, named Mila Antonova, after Epstein failed to persuade him to join a multibillion-dollar charity fund Epstein attempted to establish. The communications, Gates said, carried a tone that Epstein knew about the affair and could expose it.
Reputational risks to the Gates Foundation and Melinda French Gates’s reaction
Gates acknowledged the relationship with Epstein was "the opposite of the values of the Foundation and the goals of the Foundation, " noting the foundation’s work is reputationally sensitive and that partners could choose whether to work with the organisation. He said Epstein spoke about intimate relationships with many billionaires and suggested he could help raise money for global health causes, and that the presence of other prestigious figures at meetings had helped normalize the interactions.
The foundation’s philanthropic organisation was established alongside his then-wife, Melinda French Gates; the couple divorced in 2021 after 27 years of marriage. Melinda told a podcast earlier this month that the latest file release dredged up "painful times in my marriage. " Gates, now 70, has not been accused of wrongdoing by any of Epstein’s victims.
What makes this notable is the combination of new documentary material, direct admissions about personal conduct and a public acknowledgement of reputational harm to one of the world’s leading global health philanthropies—factors that have driven the foundation’s leadership to confront the fallout in a forum open to staff questions.
