Monday, January 27, 2025 - Bill Gates has addressed his controversial former relationship with the late Jeffrey Epstein, admitting that it was "a huge mistake" to associate with the convicted child s3x offender. "In retrospect, I was foolish to spend any time with him," the Microsoft co-founder told the Wall Street Journal in an interview. "I think I was quite stupid. I thought it would help me with global health philanthropy. In fact, it failed to do that. It was just a huge mistake."
Gates further acknowledged that he had become wary of making
new connections after Epstein's death by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial
on charges of s3x trafficking and federal conspiracy. "I think I was quite
stupid. I thought it would help me with global health philanthropy. In fact, it
failed to do that. It was just a huge mistake," he added.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Epstein had threatened to expose Gates' alleged affair with Russian bridge player Mila Antonova in 2017 after Gates declined to join Epstein's multibillion-dollar charitable fund with JPMorgan Chase. Epstein, who had known Antonova since 2013, had paid for her to enrol in a software coding school.
The billionaire philanthropist, who was married to Melinda
Gates from 1994 to 2021, admitted that he had been in a relationship with
Antonova for years. In March 2022, Melinda, 60, claimed that Epstein played a
role in the breakdown of her marriage to Bill. She said during an appearance
on CBS Mornings that she left the 27-year marriage "for
many things," including her ex-husband's relationship with Epstein.
"I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, no. I made that
clear to him," she said, recalling that she only met Epstein once, but
"regretted it the second I walked in the door."
Melinda further described Epstein as "abhorrent"
and "evil personified," adding that her heart breaks for the women
affected by his actions. Bill, in a separate interview with The Times
of London, said that his divorce from Melinda was the "mistake"
he regrets most. "There are others but none that matter," he said.
"The divorce thing was miserable for me and Melinda for at least two
years."
Although their marriage ended, Bill and Melinda have
maintained an amicable relationship and share three adult children: Jennifer,
28, Rory, 25, and Phoebe, 22. Melinda has since moved on with entrepreneur
Philip Vaughn, while Bill is now dating Paula Hurd.
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