Manny Ita –
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has acknowledged past extramarital affairs and apologized for his association with convicted financier Jeffrey Epstein after his name appeared in files released by the United States Department of Justice, according to remarks delivered during a town hall meeting with employees of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Addressing staff on February 24, Gates described his contact with Epstein as a serious error while maintaining that he had no involvement in any wrongdoing connected to the disgraced financier. “It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein,” he said during the session. “To be clear I never spent any time with victims, the women around him.”
Gates also disclosed personal misconduct during his 27-year marriage to Melinda French Gates, confirming long-standing reports of infidelity. “I did have affairs,” he said. “One with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities.”
In a statement following the meeting, the foundation said the event covered a wide range of topics submitted by employees, including the release of Epstein-related files, developments in artificial intelligence, and the organization’s global health work. “Bill answered questions submitted by foundation staff on a range of issues, including the release of the Epstein files, the foundation’s work in AI, and the future of global health,” the statement said. “Bill spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions.”
The disclosures come months after French Gates discussed the breakdown of their marriage in her 2025 memoir, describing experiences of betrayal that contributed to their 2021 divorce. In interviews promoting the book, she said the decision to speak publicly was rooted in a desire for honesty. “It was important for me to be real,” she said. “You have to stay true to yourself always, right?”
French Gates also acknowledged that renewed public attention surrounding Epstein has been personally difficult. “For me it’s personally hard when those details come up,” she said in a recent interview, “because it brings back memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage.”
Despite the renewed scrutiny, she emphasized that she has moved forward with her life. “I purposefully pushed it away and I moved on,” she said. “I’m in a really unexpected, beautiful place in my life so whatever questions remain there—I can’t even begin to know all of it—those questions are for those people and even my ex-husband. They need to answer to them. Not me.”
Gates has previously stated that his interactions with Epstein were related to philanthropic discussions and that he regrets the association, reiterating that he had no involvement in the financier’s criminal activities. The latest remarks represent his most direct public acknowledgment of both the relationship and his personal conduct during the period in question.
