Bill Gates apologizes for relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, calls emails attributed to him fake

Bill Gates apologized Wednesday for his association with Jeffrey Epstein, saying he regrets "every minute" spent with the financier who died in custody in 2019 facing charges related to sexual exploitation of minors.

In an interview with Australian broadcaster 9 News, Gates described himself as "one of many people who regret having known him" and said he was "foolish" for maintaining the relationship. He stated that his meetings with Epstein occurred between 2011 and 2014 and were strictly business-related.

Gates denied the authenticity of emails attributed to Epstein that surfaced in newly released court documents. According to Gates, one email referencing his name was never sent and appears to have been written by Epstein to himself. "Apparently, Jeffrey wrote an email to himself. That email was never sent. The email is fake," Gates said. "I don't know what his thinking was in that. Was he trying to attack me in some way?"

The U.S. Department of Justice released a third batch of documents from the Epstein case on Friday, February 30. The collection comprises approximately 3 million pages of materials, including emails, text messages, news articles, and investigative reports, along with 180,000 images and 2,000 videos. Among these documents were messages concerning Epstein's relationship with Gates.

Emails from an account appearing to belong to Epstein contained allegations that the Microsoft co-founder attempted to conceal a sexually transmitted infection from his then-wife, Melinda French Gates. Gates denied these claims in his interview.

Gates emphasized that he never participated in any criminal activities attributed to Epstein and sought to clarify his position following the document releases. He stated he was apologizing for the association itself, regardless of the specific allegations contained in the newly disclosed materials.