February 5, 2026 | 02:19 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, regretted every minute he spent with Jeffrey Epstein. The relationship between Gates and Epstein was revealed in a recent set of documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice last week. The documents include emails between Epstein and many prominent figures, including Bill Gates, revealing warm friendships, illegal financial transactions, and personal photos.
In a draft email among these documents, Epstein accused Gates of being involved in infidelity. Epstein wrote that their relationship ranged from helping Bill Gates get drugs to dealing with the consequences of having sex with Russian girls, to facilitating his secret meetings with married women.
"Every minute I spent with him, I regret, and I apologize," said Gates, a billionaire philanthropist, to 9News Australia as reported by CNA, in an interview aired on Wednesday, February 4, 2026. "That email was never sent. The email is false," he said. "I don't know what his thinking was there. Was he trying to attack me in some way?"
A spokesperson for Bill Gates issued a similar denial after millions of new files related to the investigation into Epstein, who died by suicide in prison in 2019, were released. "The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein's frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame," the spokesperson said.
Bill Gates' ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, also spoke out. In an interview with National Public Radio U.S., Melinda said that the disclosure of the documents brought back memories of some very, very painful times in their marriage. The couple divorced in 2021. "For me, it's personally hard whenever those details come up," she said.
"Whatever questions remain there of what - I can't even begin to know all of it - those questions are for those people and for even my ex-husband. They need to answer to those things, not me."
Bill Gates told 9News that he met Epstein in 2011 and had dinner with him several times over three years. However, Bill Gates claimed he never visited Epstein's Caribbean island and did not have any relationship with women.
Read: Epstein Files Reveal Ties to Trump, Clinton, Gates, and Musk
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