Bill Gates admits he was 'foolish' to spend time with Jeffrey Epstein

Bill Gates has spoken about the time he spent with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The former Microsoft CEO has addressed his meetings with the late Epstein.

"In retrospect, I was foolish to spend any time with him," he told The Wall Street Journal. "And he, sort of, got time with various people by spending time with other people. So yes, I think I was quite stupid. I thought it would help me with global health philanthropy. In fact, it failed to do that. It was just a huge mistake."

When he was asked if his connections with the disgraced Epstein made him think twice about who he met with, he replied, "Definitely. I mean, are you kidding?"

In 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported that Epstein had threatened to reveal Gates' alleged 2017 affair with a Russian bridge player while he was still married to now ex-wife, Melinda Gates.

At the time, Gates' spokesperson released a statement saying, "Mr. Gates met with Epstein solely for philanthropic purposes. Having failed repeatedly to draw Mr. Gates beyond these matters, Epstein tried unsuccessfully to leverage a past relationship to threaten Mr. Gates.

Mr. Gates never had any financial dealings with Epstein. As Bill has said before, it was a mistake to have ever met him."

Epstein took his own life in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal conspiracy and sex trafficking charges. He was 66.