Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is once again under intense scrutiny after admitting to two affairs with Russian women during his marriage to Melinda French Gates — and issuing a public apology for his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The 70-year-old billionaire addressed staff at the Gates Foundation during a town hall on Tuesday, acknowledging what he described as serious personal mistakes while insisting he did nothing illegal during his interactions with Epstein.
“I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” Gates told foundation employees, according to the Wall Street Journal. “To be clear, I never spent any time with the victims, the women around him.”
The admission marks one of the most direct acknowledgments yet from Gates regarding both his personal conduct and his controversial relationship with Epstein.
Gates confirmed he had flown on Epstein’s private plane and spent time with him in multiple locations, including New York, Germany, France, and Washington, D.C. However, he stated he never visited Epstein’s infamous private island.
The timeline raises eyebrows. Gates first met Epstein in 2011 — after Epstein had already been convicted in Florida for procuring a child for prostitution. Despite that conviction, Gates continued to socialize with the disgraced financier, even as Melinda French Gates reportedly expressed deep concerns about the relationship. The couple divorced in 2021 after 27 years of marriage.
Bill Gates has no choice but to admit that he had 2 affairs with 2 Russian women, one was a bridge player, the other was a nuclear physicist, as recorded in Epstein files
his wife was smart enough to divorce him, saving her a lot of headaches & heartbreakshttps://t.co/E6vQSKLKz5— Sailing
(@sanailing) February 25, 2026
(@sanailing) During the town hall, Gates also admitted to two extramarital affairs: one with Russian bridge player Mila Antonova, whom he met at bridge tournaments, and another with a Russian nuclear physicist he encountered through business connections.
Epstein had previously referenced the affair with Antonova in communications that later surfaced. In a July 2013 email to Gates’ science adviser Boris Nikolic, Epstein named two women he alleged Gates had affairs with and warned of potential fallout.
“Bill risks going from richest man to biggest hypocrite,” Epstein wrote in the email.
Weeks later, Epstein sent himself a so-called “resignation” email written as if from Nikolic, referencing a “severe marital dispute” between Bill and Melinda Gates and making bizarre claims about medication tied to alleged relationships. Nikolic has denied authoring those messages or approving them.
Gates acknowledged during the town hall that Melinda had long been skeptical of his relationship with Epstein.
“To give her credit, she was always kind of skeptical about the Epstein thing,” he said.
He also apologized to those within his philanthropic empire who may have been affected by the controversy.
“I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake I made,” Gates said. “It definitely is the opposite of the values of the foundation and the goals of the foundation.”
A spokesperson for the Gates Foundation said Gates “spoke candidly” and “took responsibility for his actions.”
Still, the revelations reignite serious questions about judgment at the highest levels of global philanthropy. Gates previously described his time with Epstein as “foolish,” claiming he believed the relationship could help advance global health initiatives — a calculation he now calls a “huge mistake.”
The fallout from those decisions continues to unfold, years after Epstein’s crimes shocked the world and permanently altered the reputations of powerful figures linked to him.
