Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has apologised to Gates Foundation employees over his connections to late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, which he described as a “huge mistake”, as well as admitted that he had two affairs with Russian women. He stated that these relations were later found out by Epstein; however, insisted that they did not involve his victims. “I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” he declared. The development transpired during a town hall on 24th February (Tuesday), reported The Wall Street Journal.
The billionaire acknowledged that his actions had damaged the charity’s reputation but maintained that he was not a part of Epstein’s criminal conduct. According to him, the latter encouraged him to take photos with his aides following their meetings, which are included in the recently revealed Epstein files and feature him with ladies whose faces have been redacted.
He expressed, “It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein and bring Gates Foundation executives into meetings with the sex offender. I apologise to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made.” Gates stated that he began seeing Epstein in 2011 after he entered a guilty plea to soliciting a child for prostitution in 2008.
The tech mogul asserted that he didn’t thoroughly investigate the convict’s past but was aware of an “18-month thing” that had restricted his travel. He accepted that the two continued their meetings despite concerns voiced by his ex-wife, Melinda Gates. “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 behaviour,” he conveyed and further claimed, “To give her credit, she was always kind of sceptical about the Epstein thing,” while referring to Melinda Gates.
Gates disclosed that the two met until 2014, used a private jet and even travelled to Germany, France, New York and Washington. He stressed that Epstein “talked about the kind of intimate relationship he had with a lot of billionaires, particularly Wall Street billionaires” and could assist in raising funds for issues like global health.
According to Gates, Epstein’s attendance at these meetings with other prominent individuals “made it easier for me to feel like this was a normalised situation.” He conceded that the deceased paedophile’s reputation was polished by his affiliation with him. Gates also recognised that the Gates Foundation’s credibility had been damaged by these links and recently leaked emails from the United States Justice Department records.
“It definitely is the opposite of the values of the Foundation and the goals of the Foundation. And our work is very reputation-sensitive. I mean, people can choose to work with us or not work with us,” Gates announced. Afterwards, a Gates Foundation representative noted that he “spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions.” The town hall event his held twice a year.
