'Did nothing illicit, saw nothing illicit': Bill Gates apologises to Gates Foundation staff over Epstein links

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has reportedly apologised to the staff of the Gates Foundation over his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after his name appeared in the recent documents released by the Department of Justice.

Gates apologised to the employees to acknowledge the mistakes that had cast a cloud over the philanthropic group. While he said that he had affairs with two Russian women, Gates maintained that neither of them was one of Epstein’s victims. Gates added that Epstein had come to know about his affairs later on, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

“I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit. To be clear I never spent any time with victims, the women around him," the tech mogul said.

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Bill Gates said that photos in the recently released Epstein files depicting him alongside women whose faces were obscured were taken at Jeffrey Epstein’s request, explaining that Epstein had asked him to pose with his assistants following their meetings.

“It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein and bring Gates Foundation executives into meetings with the sex offender, Gates said. “I apologise to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made.”

When did Gates meet Epstein?

During a town hall meeting, Gates revealed that he had met Epstein in 2011, years after the disgraced billionaire pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution.

Gates said he knew about an “18-month thing” that had restricted Jeffrey Epstein’s travel but acknowledged that he did not thoroughly investigate Epstein’s background. He also said he kept meeting with Epstein even after his then-wife, Melinda French Gates, raised concerns in 2013.

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“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,” Gates told his staff.

He also revealed that he and Epstein continued to meet throughout 2014, shared private jets and had travelled to Germany, France, New York and Washington with him. He, however, said that he never spent the night with Epstein or visited Epstein’s island.

He said Epstein “talked about the kind of intimate relationship he had with a lot of billionaires, particularly Wall Street billionaires.”

What has Melinda said?

In an interview on NPR’s Wild Card podcast, Bill Gates’ former wife said it was “personally hard whenever those details come up, right? Because it brings back memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage.” She added that questions raised by the files should be addressed by those involved, including Bill Gates himself.

“Whatever questions remain there of what — I can’t even begin to know all of it — those questions are for those people and for even my ex-husband,” she said. “They need to answer to those things, not me.”