Bill Gates admitted to Gates Foundation staff members that he had two affairs and also said it was a « huge mistake » to spend time with late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
At a town hall on Tuesday, Gates apologized for his connection to Epstein following the release of emails from 2013 that Epstein sent to himself, claiming that he was Gates’ « right hand » and had participated in things for him that were « ethically unsound. » Representatives for Gates have previously called Epstein’s claims « absolutely absurd and completely false. »
« I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit, » Gates said Tuesday, according to a recording exclusively reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Gates acknowledged that he had two affairs with women that Epstein later discovered, but said that they didn’t involve Epstein’s victims.
« To be clear, I never spent any time with victims, the women around him, » he said, The Wall Street Journal reported.
« It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein, » he said, adding: « I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made. »
The pair started meeting in 2011, Gates said, years after Epstein had pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution. He told staffers that he wasn’t fully aware of the charges and continued to meet with Epstein.
« Knowing what I know makes it, you know, a hundred times worse in terms of not only his crimes in the past, but now it’s clear there was ongoing bad behavior, » he said.
Gates also said that his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, « was always kind of skeptical about the Epstein thing. »
During the town hall, Gates told staff members that he never visited Epstein’s private island, but did fly on a private jet with him and spent time with him in Washington, New York, Germany and France. He said that because there would be other prestigious people at their meetings, it « made it easier for me to feel like this was a normalized situation. »
« It definitely is the opposite of the values of the Foundation and the goals of the Foundation, » he told staffers. « And our work is very reputational sensitive. I mean, people can choose to work with us or not work with us. »
Gates said in the town hall that 2014 was the last year he met with Epstein.
A spokesperson for the foundation told NBC News that Gates holds town halls twice a year and answered questions submitted by staff on issues including « the release of the Epstein files, the foundation’s work in AI, and the future of global health. »
« In the town hall, Bill spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions, » the spokesperson said.
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