Billionaire philanthropist Melinda French Gates has said that her ex-husband, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, being named in newly released files connected to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, brought back “painful times” from their marriage.
Speaking on NPR’s Wild Card podcast, she described feeling “unbelievable sadness” and said any remaining questions about the records should be answered by those named in them, including her ex-husband. “I am so happy to be away from all the muck,” she added. The couple divorced in 2021 after 27 years of marriage.
The US Justice Department’s released documents include an allegation by Epstein that Bill Gates contracted a sexually transmitted disease. Gates’s spokesperson called the claim “absolutely absurd.”
Bill Gates has not been accused of wrongdoing by any of Epstein’s victims, and his name appearing in the files does not indicate criminal activity.
In a statement to the BBC, Gates’s team said he never attended Epstein’s parties and was not involved in any illegal activities linked to him. “While Mr. Gates acknowledges that meeting with Epstein was a serious error in judgment, he unequivocally denies any improper conduct related to Epstein and the horrible activities in which Epstein was involved,” the statement said.
Gates also spoke to Australian broadcaster 9News, noting that his interactions with Epstein were limited to dinners and that he never visited Epstein’s private island. “Every minute I spent with him I regret, and I apologise that I did that,” he said.
Melinda French Gates reiterated the personal toll in her NPR interview: “For me, it’s personally hard whenever those details come up… it brings back memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage. Whatever questions remain… those questions are for those people and for even my ex-husband. They need to answer to those things, not me.”
US media reports indicate that, before their separation, Melinda French Gates was upset about her husband’s association with Epstein. After their split, Bill Gates publicly acknowledged having an affair with a Microsoft employee in 2019.
The allegations regarding Gates appear in more than three million documents released by the Justice Department last week. Among them are two emails dated 18 July 2013, apparently drafted by Epstein, though it is unclear if they were ever sent to Gates. Both emails originate from Epstein’s account and were returned to it; no email associated with Gates appears, and both remain unsigned.
One email, written as a resignation letter from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, references obtaining medicine for Bill Gates “to deal with the consequences of sex with Russian girls.” Another begins “dear Bill” and claims Gates ended a friendship and attempted to conceal a sexually transmitted infection, including from Melinda Gates.
Bill Gates told Australian media the emails were never sent and that their contents were “false.” He has consistently downplayed his connection to Epstein, previously stating they had only “several dinners” to discuss a philanthropic project that never materialized.
Following the latest allegations, a spokesperson for Gates reiterated: “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. These claims—from a proven, disgruntled liar—are absolutely absurd and completely false.”
Many of the documents released last week provide insight into Epstein’s vast network of celebrities, business leaders, and political figures, connections that persisted even after his 2008 conviction for soliciting sex from a 14-year-old girl. Epstein died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
