Bill Gates has admitted he had affairs with two Russian women but insisted they were not Jeffrey Epstein’s victims as he apologised to staff over his ties to the disgraced financier.
The American Billionaire made the apology during a town hall meeting at the Gates Foundation on Tuesday, Febuary 24.
Gates told employees it had been a ‘huge mistake’ to spend time with Epstein and to involve foundation executives in meetings with the convicted s£x offender, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
‘I apologise to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made,’ he said, according to a recording cited by the Journal.
The report said Gates acknowledged having two affairs with Russian women that Epstein later became aware of, but stressed they did not involve any of Epstein’s victims.
‘I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,’ he told staff.
A spokesperson for the philanthropic organisation confirmed the Microsoft founder had ‘taken responsibility for his actions’.
Previously released U.S. Department of Justice documents show Gates met Epstein repeatedly after the financier had served a prison sentence, with discussions said to have centred on expanding Gates’ philanthropic work.
The documents also included pictures of the Microsoft founder posing with women whose faces are redacted.
According to the Journal, Gates told the foundation’s staff that the images 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 added, according to the report.
A spokesperson for the Gates Foundation told reporters that Gates held a scheduled town hall with the employees and answered questions on a range of issues, including the release of the Epstein files.
‘In the town hall, Bill spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions.’
The spokesperson also said the Gates Foundation statement acknowledged what was shared by the billionaire during the town hall, and the statement is all that the foundation would say about the report.
Earlier this month, the Gates Foundation said it did not make any financial payments to Epstein or employ him at any time.
The billionaire also pulled out of India’s AI Impact Summit hours before his scheduled keynote last week.
