Melinda Gates mentions Bill Gates Epstein’s photo files on NPR podcast
In a preview of an upcoming episode of NPR’s podcast “Wild Cards,” Melinda French Gates noticed what she called “the elephant in the room.”
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has revised his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, saying it was “stupid” to spend time with the late investor and convicted sex offender after the Justice Department released three million more documents about the affair.
In an interview with Nine News Australia, Gates added that he “regrets every minute” of his time with the disgraced asset manager. He has denied allegations mentioned in draft emails from Mr. Epstein’s account, including that he used Mr. Epstein to facilitate trysts with women and that he hid sexually transmitted diseases from his then-wife, Melinda French Gates.
“Apparently, Jeffrey wrote an email to himself. That email was never sent,” Gates told the news outlet. “That email is false. So I don’t know what he was thinking. Was he trying to attack me in some way? I just remember. Every minute I spent with him, I regret it and I apologize for what I did.”
Gates said he met Epstein in 2011 and “had dinner with him many times.” Gates said the focus of the relationship was to discuss business opportunities.
“The focus was always that he knew a lot of very wealthy people and said he could get them to donate money to global health,” Gates added. “In hindsight, it was a dead end. I was foolish to spend time with him. I was one of the many people who regret never knowing him.”
Gates also denied ever visiting the island where Epstein has been accused of human trafficking, assaulting women and having affairs with other women.
“The more it becomes clear, the more it will become clear that while the time was wrong, it had nothing to do with such conduct,” Gates said.
The interview came after internal documents related to Mr. Epstein revealed his ties to many prominent figures in politics, finance, academia, and business. Gates, along with President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton, is named in millions of files collected by the Justice Department. All three deny wrongdoing.
Epstein died in a Manhattan prison in 2019 while awaiting a federal trial for sex trafficking. His death was ruled a suicide.
Conspiracy theories have long swirled that other wealthy and powerful people were involved in sex crimes with Epstein. Many of the alleged victims say more people should be held accountable.
Bill Gates’ name listed in Epstein files
Documents released from Epstein’s files show that Gates and Epstein met repeatedly after Epstein’s prison sentence to discuss expanding the Microsoft founder’s philanthropy. It also includes photos of Gates posing with women whose faces have been edited.
A photo released in December 2025 showed Gates and Epstein wearing suits, but the background of the image remains unclear. On January 30, the Justice Department released another 3 million pages of documents from the Epstein file that referenced Gates, billionaire technology executive Elon Musk, and Trump.
According to files shared by the Justice Department, on July 18, 2013, Epstein sent himself two emails containing unconfirmed claims that the former Microsoft CEO contracted a sexually transmitted disease from extramarital “sex with a Russian girl” that required antibiotics.
The other email, a resignation letter that appeared to be written from the perspective of someone named “Boris,” criticized Gates for choosing to “ignore the friendships we have cultivated over the past six years.”
“In my role as his right-hand man, I was repeatedly asked to do things that, in retrospect, could range from the morally inappropriate to the ethically unsound, unreasonably acquiesced in, and otherwise border on or cross the line of illegality,” the email said.
Gates said the relationship was limited to philanthropy-related discussions and that it was a mistake to meet.
Melinda French Gates says Bill Gates needs to ‘answer’ allegations
Following the release of the latest set of documents from Epstein’s files, French Gates said she was not responsible for answering questions about her ex-husband’s relationship with Epstein.
“Whatever questions I have left about things I don’t know, I can’t even begin to know them all. Those questions are directed at those people, even my ex-husband. They are the ones who need to answer those things, not me,” she said on the Thursday, Feb. 5, episode of NPR’s podcast “Wild Cards.”
In 2021, the French Gates announced their divorce after 27 years of marriage. French Gates later left the Gates Foundation in 2024, a decision she said she felt she had to make.
“It’s an incredible sadness,” she told Rachel Martin, host of the NPR podcast “Wild Card.” “I had to end my marriage. I wanted to end my marriage.”
Contributions: Anthony Robredo, Erin Mansfield, Kathryn Palmer, Jamie Fraser, USA TODAY. Reuters
