Gates Foundation Chairman Bill Gates speaks at the Bloomberg Philanthropy 2025 Global Business Forum in New York on September 24, 2025.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Bill Gates spoke about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein during a town hall meeting with Gates Foundation employees, a spokesperson for the nonprofit organization said Wednesday. microsoft Co-founder’s relationship with sex offender.
Gates said in a recording of the meeting that he “did nothing illegal” during his interactions with Epstein, and said they met in multiple countries but never stayed overnight, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Gates also told staff at Tuesday’s meeting that he had relationships with a Russian bridge player and a Russian nuclear physicist, and that his colleague Boris Nikolic had discussed those relationships with Epstein, the paper said.
He divorced Melinda French, who previously served as co-chair of the foundation, in 2021.
“During the conversation, Bill answered questions from foundation staff on a variety of issues, including the release of the Epstein files, the foundation’s work in AI, and the future of global health,” a Gates Foundation representative told CNBC in an email. “At City Hall, Bill spoke openly, answered several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions.”
Millions of pages of documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice in January involve politicians, academics and business executives, some of whom have stepped down from their roles.
Earlier this week, Dr. Peter Attia resigned from his position as a CBS News contributor, saying the emails involving Mr. Epstein were “embarrassing, sterile, and indefensible.”
Gates has maintained for years that it was a mistake to associate with the disgraced former investor. The foundation announced last week that Gates would not be attending an artificial intelligence summit scheduled for India.
In new documents released by the Justice Department, including a trove of emails, Gates and Epstein discuss philanthropic fundraising, the search for a CEO for Microsoft and even a $1 bet on the performance of the euro.
The emails described meetings with Foundation staff, which were then relayed to Mr. Epstein, who at times offered suggestions on how to proceed.
Gates’ new comments come weeks after the foundation said “a small number of foundation staff engaged with Mr. Epstein to secure this potential funding, based on Mr. Epstein’s claims that he could mobilize significant philanthropic resources for global health and development.”
The foundation said it never paid Epstein any compensation and that no endowment was ever established.
“The harm Epstein inflicted on women and girls was horrific, and no one should ever have to go through what they did,” the statement said.
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