Bill Gates apologizes to foundation staff over Jeffrey Epstein ties, admits to affairs
Feb 25, 2026, 6:12 AM | Updated: 3:18 pm
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates apologized to his foundation’s staff and team for his connection to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, which was revealed in one of the U.S. Department of Justice’s releases of the Epstein files.
In his apology, Gates admitted he had two affairs with Russian women while married to Melinda French Gates, now his ex-wife, and that he spent time with Epstein both in the U.S. and abroad, including flying on a private plane with him.
However, he did not admit to committing any crimes. He claimed he never stayed overnight with Epstein, and he never visited the island.
“I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” Gates said in the town hall meeting, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on Gates’ apology. “To be clear, I never spent any time with the victims, the women around him.”
Exactly three weeks ago, Gates was adamant his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein was “false.”
According to Gates, he first met Epstein in 2011, three years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution. Over the next three years, Gates continued to meet with Epstein, despite French Gates expressing concerns.
French Gates filed for divorce in 2021 after 27 years of marriage.
“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 said during his apology. “To give [French Gates] credit, she was always kind of skeptical about the Epstein thing.
“I did have affairs,” Gates continued. “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.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, Epstein sent himself two messages in July 2013 that appear to be drafts styled as a resignation letter from Gates’s then-science adviser, Boris Nikolic. The second email referenced a Gates “marital dispute” and said the author had facilitated “illicit trysts.” One of the emails tried to suggest Nikolic had assisted Gates in securing medication “in order to deal with the consequences of sex with Russian girls.”
An organization spokesperson said that Gates “spoke candidly” and “took responsibility for his actions” after he spoke about how this relationship damaged the values and goals of the foundation.
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