Bill Gates Admits He Regrets "Every Minute" He Spent With Jeffrey Epstein
Bill Gates is attempting to clear his conscience.
After the Microsoft co-founder was named in files released by the United States Department of Justice pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein, he disclosed his past infidelity while addressing his relationship to the late, disgraced financier.
“It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein,” Gates said in a town hall conversation with Bill Gates Foundation employees during a Feb. 24 Town Hall, per the Wall Street Journal. “To be clear I never spent any time with victims, the women around him.”
Elsewhere in his address, Gates—who has maintained his relationship with Epstein was strictly professional and for charitable funding—admitted to infidelity during his 27-year marriage to ex Melinda French Gates.
“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.”
Gates’ personal indiscretions were just some of the topics the biannual town hall, the Bill Gates Foundation confirmed.
“Bill answered questions submitted by foundation staff on a range of issues, including the release of the Epstein files, the foundation's work in AI, and the future of global health,” the organization said in a statement to MS NOW. “Bill spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions.”
Gates’ admission comes a little over six months after his ex-wife—with whom he shares kids Jennifer, 29, Rory, 26 and Phoebe, 23—opened up about “betrayals” in their 27-year marriage in her 2025 memoir The Next Day.
“It was important for me to be real,” she told People in April. “You have to stay true to yourself always, right?”
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In her memoir, French addressed her ex-husband’s past acknowledgement of infidelity ahead of their 2021 divorce, writing, “he wasn’t always faithful to me.”
And in light of Gates’ name appearing in the newly-released Epstein files, she admitted it hasn’t gotten easier to digest. (Gates had previously addressed his connection to Epstein in 2019 following the convicted sex offender’s death while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.)
“For me it’s personally hard when those details come up,” French shared on NPR’s Wild Card earlier this month, “because it brings back memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage.”
Nevertheless, the 61-year-old emphasized she has “moved on.”
“I purposefully pushed it away and I moved on,” she explained. “I’m in a really unexpected, beautiful place in my life so whatever questions remain there—I can’t even begin to know all of it—those questions are for those people and even my ex-husband. They need to answer to them. Not me.”
For more stars who have recently called it quits, keep reading…
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She didn't share a reason for the split, saying, "The only people that know why Cody and I made this decision is Cody and I.”
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The WeWoreWhat founder confirmed on Jan. 30 the couple had split, just six months after they'd gotten engaged.
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The couple—who share children Isabella, Samuel and Benjamin—added their goal is to work together to coparent their children.
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Following their divorce, Annette will no long hold the royal title of Princess.
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