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Bill Gates acknowledged in an internal meeting at his foundation on Tuesday that he had extramarital affairs with two Russian women during his marriage, and apologized for his association with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, calling it a "huge mistake."
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The 70-year-old Microsoft co-founder told staff at a town hall meeting that one affair was with Russian bridge player Mila Antonova and the other with a Russian nuclear physicist he met through business. He maintained that neither woman was connected to Epstein's victims and that he engaged in no illegal behavior.
Gates reportedly met Antonova, then in her 20s, at a bridge tournament in Washington DC around 2009-2010. Their relationship later became a point of leverage when Epstein learned of it through Gates' former science adviser, Boris Nikolic.
In 2013, Epstein paid for Antonova to attend a software programming course, directly covering her tuition. According to emails released by the Department of Justice, Epstein later tried to pressure Gates into reimbursing him and investing in his funds, using the affair as leverage.
"You're friend Bill is nuts," Epstein wrote to Nikolic in a 2017 email. "His former girl. Can't afford air con. Can't afford to travel to bridge. The richest man in the world is so cheap, his former bridge girl and toy, lives on a friends sofa."
Gates said he never paid Epstein or invested in his funds. A spokesperson previously stated that Epstein "tried unsuccessfully to leverage a past relationship to threaten Mr. Gates."
Gates acknowledged meeting Epstein multiple times from 2011 onward but insisted he never visited Epstein's private island or had contact with his victims. He admitted failing to properly vet Epstein's background, thinking interactions could advance his foundation's global health work.
Gates also noted his ex-wife Melinda French Gates expressed discomfort about his Epstein ties as early as 2013. The couple divorced in 2021 after 27 years of marriage.
