Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said he regrets his interactions with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as he faces renewed scrutiny after photos and references to him appeared in the millions of files released by the Justice Department.
In an interview with Australian television, Gates said he met Epstein in 2011 and believed the financier could help connect wealthy donors to global health causes.
"The focus was always — he knew a lot of very rich people. And he was saying he could get them to give money to global health,” Gates said. “In retrospect, that was a dead end and I was foolish to spend time with him. I am one of many people who regret ever knowing him.”
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Gates also responded to a 2013 email Epstein sent to himself that was included in a trove of documents released by the Justice Department on Friday. The email describes Gates ending their relationship while insisting their interactions remain confidential.
“The email is false,” Gates said. “So I don’t know what his thinking was there. It just reminds me that every minute I spent with him, I regret, and I apologize that I did that.”
Gates said he never visited Epstein’s private island and never met any women connected to the late financier.
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“The more that comes out, the more clear it will be that, although the time was a mistake, we have nothing to do with that kind of behavior,” he said.
Gates’ ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, also addressed the issue in an interview with NPR. She said the mentions of her ex-husband take her back to a difficult time in their marriage.
“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,” she said. “They need to answer to those things, not me.”
Gates went on to say that while she's been able to move on with her life, she hopes there's justice for women who say they were trafficked by Epstein.
