One of the world’s richest men, Bill Gates, has broken his silence following allegations surfacing in the latest round of documents released regarding convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
‘The focus was always, he knew a lot of very rich people and he was saying he could get them to give money to global health,’ Gates said in an interview with Nine News on Wednesday.
Gates gave his ‘only Australian TV interview’ with Nine during a trip for the Australian Open, which ran from January 12 to February 1 at Melbourne Park.
The billionaire continued: ‘You know, in retrospect that was a dead end and I was foolish to spend time with him. I was one of many people who regret ever knowing him.
‘Apparently, Jeffrey wrote an email to himself. That email was never sent. The email is, you know, false.
‘I don’t know what his thinking was there. Every minute I spent with him, I regret and I apologise that I did that.
‘I was only at dinners… I never went to the island, I never met any women, and so, you know, the more that comes out, the more clear it’ll be, that although the time was a mistake, it had nothing to do with that kind of behavior.’
The latest tranche of documents contains allegations against a number of well known people including Gates, who met Epstein on multiple occasions to discuss expanding his philanthropic efforts.
One email Epstein sent to himself in 2013 shows him frustrated over Gates’ decision to end their friendship and appears to allege Gates contracted an STD and sought his advice to secretly give an antibiotic to his then-wife Melinda.
Bill Gates said he regrets spending time with Epstein but that no impropriety occurred
Gates met Epstein on multiple occasions to discuss his philanthropic efforts
‘TO add insult to injury you them implore me to please delete the emails mails regarding your std, your request that I provide you antibiotics that you can surreptitiously give to Melinda and the description of your penis,’ the email with typos reads.
Melinda, who divorced Bill Gates in 2021, earlier on Tuesday said those mentioned in the documents, including her ex, have some explaining to do.
During Tuesday’s episode of NPR’s Wild Card podcast, Melinda said she felt sorry for the victims of Epstein.
‘I think we’re having a reckoning as a society, right? No girl, no girl should ever be put in the situation that they were put in by Epstein and whatever was going on with all of the various people around him,’ she said, shaking her head.
She added: ‘It’s beyond heartbreaking. I remember being those ages those girls were, I remember my daughters being those ages.
‘So, for me, it’s personally hard whenever those details come up, right? Because it brings back memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage.’
More to come…
