Elon Musk rips Bill Gates over Epstein ties: ‘I wouldn’t trust that guy to babysit my kids’

Elon Musk lashed out at Bill Gates after the Microsoft co-founder accused him of “killing the world’s poorest children” over his leadership of cost-cutting agency DOGE – retorting that he wouldn’t trust Gates around his kids because of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

“Who does Bill Gates think he is to make comments about the welfare of children given that he frequented Jeffrey Epstein?” Musk said during an interview on Tuesday at the Bloomberg Qatar Economic Forum.

“I wouldn’t trust that guy to babysit my kids, I can tell you that.”

Musk’s attack was a nod to Gates’ controversial history with Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender with high-level connections whose death in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 was ruled a suicide.

Musk’s broadside attack on Gates came after the software mogul gave a blistering interview to the Financial Times earlier this month in which he accused the former DOGE chief of recklessly gutting US foreign aid programs.

“The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one,” Gates said, pointing to cuts in USAID funding for HIV-prevention medication in Mozambique.  

“I’d love for him to go in and meet the children that have now been infected with HIV because he cut that money.”

Gates said the decision to slash USAID funding stemmed from conspiracy theories reportedly circulated in Musk’s inner circle — specifically, that US foreign aid was being used to send condoms to Hamas in Gaza.

Musk vehemently denied Gates’ claims on Tuesday, adding: “Show us any evidence whatsoever that that is true. It’s false.”

In February, Musk’s agency declared that it was “time for [USAID] to die,” and defunded numerous programs. 

In defending the cuts, a White House spokesperson described Musk as “a patriot working to fulfill President Trump’s mission to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse.”

The escalating feud between Musk and Gates is the latest flare-up in a years-long clash between the two tech titans, including a 2022 episode in which Musk publicly mocked Gates after learning the Microsoft founder had shorted Tesla stock.

Representatives for Gates and Musk did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.

The Microsoft billionaire met with Epstein several times before his death, including at least three get-togethers at the financier’s Manhattan townhouse, according to The New York Times.

The meetings started in 2011, after Epstein had already pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution, served jail time and registered as a sex offender, according to the report.

Gates was running a massive philanthropic institution with several programs dedicated to gender equality for women and girls during that time through his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation..

“His lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing although it would not work for me,” Gates reportedly said in an email to colleagues in 2011 after that first meeting.

A spokesperson for Gates has said he was only referring to the way Epstein’s home was decorated and his habit of spontaneously inviting guests, not any “sense of interest or approval.”

Epstein was later indicted on federal sex trafficking charges involving dozens of underage girls. 

Gates has said he regrets the meetings, calling them “a huge mistake,” and the interactions ultimately played a role in the unraveling of his longtime marriage.

Melinda French Gates told “CBS Mornings” in March 2022 that her decision to divorce Gates after 27 years was influenced in part by her discomfort with his association with Epstein, saying she made her disapproval “clear” to her then-husband.

Even after their marriage in 1994, Gates reportedly pursued women at Microsoft on multiple occasions and became known for his clumsy advances, fueling office gossip, though he did not pressure these women into complying, several employees told the Times.

At one time, Epstein seemingly threatened Gates with knowledge of his affair with a 20-something Russian bridge player, Mila Antonova, according to The Wall Street Journal.

He sent an email demanding Gates reimburse him for Antonova’s coding school tuition after the financier failed to convince Gates to launch a multi-billion dollar charitable fund with JPMorgan Chase, according to the report.

A spokesperson for Gates has acknowledged Epstein tried to use “a past relationship” to threaten him, adding that Gates did not make the payment.

Musk, meanwhile, has his own ties to Epstein, acknowledging that they met for a brief 30 minutes at the sex offender’s Manhattan home.

He also attended a dinner hosted by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman with guests including Epstein and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, according to Vanity Fair.

The Tesla founder was pictured in 2014 alongside Ghislaine Maxwell — Epstein’s accomplice who was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking — at a Vanity Fair Oscars after-party, though he claimed she “photo-bombed” him at the event.

In 2023, Musk was subpoenaed by the US Virgin Islands in connection with a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase over its ties to Epstein, though he denied having any relationship with Epstein or seeking his financial advice.