Bill Gates Expresses Regret Over Time Spent with Epstein

Bill Gates has expressed regret over “every minute” he spent with Jeffrey Epstein, even as his former wife, Melinda French Gates, said questions remain about his interactions with the convicted sex offender.

Recently released US Justice Department documents included emails between Epstein and several prominent figures, revealing close ties, financial dealings, and private communications.

One draft email from Epstein claimed Gates was involved in extramarital affairs, alleging that their interactions included “helping Bill to get drugs, in order to deal with consequences of sex with Russian girls, to facilitating his illicit trysts with married women.”

“Every minute I spent with him, I regret, and I apologize,” Gates told 9News Australia in an interview aired Wednesday. “That email was never sent. The email is false. I don’t know what his thinking was there—was he trying to attack me in some way?”

A Gates spokesperson echoed this denial, stating that the documents merely show Epstein’s frustration over not maintaining a relationship with Gates and his attempts to entrap or defame him.

Melinda French Gates told NPR that the release of the documents brought back “memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage.” She added, “Whatever questions remain… those questions are for those people and for my ex-husband to answer, not me.” The couple divorced in 2021.

Gates explained that he first met Epstein in 2011 and attended several dinners with him over three years, but never visited Epstein’s Caribbean island nor engaged in any sexual activity. “The focus was always, he knew a lot of very rich people, and he was saying he could get them to give money to global health. In retrospect, that was a dead end,” he said.

While the documents highlight Epstein’s connections to public figures, inclusion of someone’s name does not imply wrongdoing, though it has raised scrutiny over previously downplayed or denied ties.