Bill Gates apologises to Foundation staff over Epstein ties: Report

New York: American tech entrepreneur Bill Gates has apologised to the staff at the Gates Foundation over his ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein but maintained that he did “nothing illicit,” according to a media report.

The Microsoft co-founder also admitted that he had two affairs with Russian women and that he made mistakes that had cast a cloud over the philanthropic group while insisting he didn’t participate in Epstein’s crimes, The Wall Street Journal said in an exclusive report on Tuesday.

Gates was among the scores of celebrities, politicians, leaders and tech entrepreneurs shown having connections with the sex offender as was evident in the tens of thousands of documents, including emails, interview transcripts, photos, call logs etc with some names redacted, released online – collectively termed Epstein files - last month by the US Justice Department.

In a town hall on Tuesday, Gates acknowledged that he had two affairs with Russian women that Epstein later discovered, but that they didn’t involve Epstein’s victims. “I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” Gates said, according to a recording reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Gates said images in the recently released Epstein files showing him with women whose faces are redacted were pictures that Epstein asked him to take with Epstein’s assistants after their meetings. “To be clear, I never spent any time with victims, the women around him,” Gates said.

“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,” The Wall Street Journal quoted Gates as saying.

The philanthropist said he had met Epstein in 2011, three years after the sex offender had pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution.

Gates said he didn't “properly check” Epstein's background even when he was aware of some “18-month thing” that had limited Epstein’s travel and added that he continued meeting with Epstein even after his then-wife Melinda French Gates expressed concerns in 2013.

Speaking of his ex-wife, he added: “To give her credit, she was always kind of skeptical about the Epstein thing.” The Wall Street Journal further said that Gates told staff on Tuesday that he continued meeting with Epstein through 2014, flew on a private jet with Epstein and spent time with him in Germany, France, New York and Washington. “I never stayed overnight,” he said, or visited Epstein’s island.

Gates admitted that his ties to Epstein and newly disclosed emails from the Justice Department files had cast a cloud over the Gates Foundation and its reputation, the newspaper said.

“It definitely is the opposite of the values of the Foundation and the goals of the Foundation,” he said. “And our work is very reputational sensitive. I mean, people can choose to work with us or not work with us.” A Gates Foundation spokesperson said Gates holds town halls twice a year and he “spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions.” The Microsoft co-founder said Epstein “talked about the kind of intimate relationship he had with a lot of billionaires, particularly Wall Street billionaires,” and that he could help raise money for causes like global health.

Gates said because Epstein had other prestigious people at these meetings, that “made it easier for me to feel like this was a normalized situation.” He said he realizes that his association with Epstein also helped the sex offender to burnish his reputation.

In the town hall, Gates also said: “I did have affairs, 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.” Gates said that 2014 was the last year he met with Epstein.

Epstein, as per the US media reports, killed himself in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after he was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges.