Bill Gates Says He Never Should Have Met With Epstein

Tech billionaire Bill Gates told lawmakers on June 10 that he should not have met with Jeffrey Epstein, but never witnessed criminal conduct from the convicted sex offender.

Gates, 70, told the House of Representatives Oversight Committee in an opening statement that he “should never have met with Epstein in the first place,” but that he “never witnessed nor had any indication that Epstein was engaged in ongoing criminal conduct.”

The founder of Microsoft said he was introduced to Epstein through people involved in his professional and philanthropic work and was drawn in by Epstein’s claims that he could help raise billions of dollars for global health initiatives. Their relationship began in 2011, three years after Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to soliciting prostitution from a minor.

Gates says he ended the relationship in 2014 after concluding Epstein could not deliver on those promises, and added that he never went to Epstein’s island or his other properties.

“I have never victimized anyone,” Gates said. “While he may have sought to foster a personal relationship, I was never interested in that and never reciprocated.”

Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda Gates, have said that his relationship with Epstein was a factor that contributed to their divorce.

“I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein,” Melinda Gates said in 2022.

Bill Gates, who has expressed regret in the past for meeting with Epstein, has also accused Epstein of trying to blackmail him.

Epstein, who was indicted in 2019 on federal charges of sex trafficking of minors and conspiring to carry out sex trafficking of minors, died in prison that year while awaiting trial. A medical examiner ruled the death a suicide.

Thousands of Epstein-related files released by the Department of Justice in January mentioned or showed Gates, including schedules listing planned Epstein meetings with Gates in New York.

The House Oversight Committee has for months been investigating Epstein, his operations, and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of child sex trafficking. Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) in March requested Gates to testify, stating the panel “believes you have information that will assist in its investigation.”

“We just want to know about his relationship with Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell,” Comer told reporters before questioning Gates in a private session. “What did he see? Did he know what was going on? Was he involved in any of this?”

He added, “No one’s accusing Bill Gates of any wrongdoing and I certainly appreciate him coming in voluntarily.”

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the committee, told reporters that lawmakers were interested in understanding who was in Epstein’s orbit and what Gates saw.

“We’re certainly going to be asking about some of those, some of the emails that were in the files as they relate to Mr. Gates’s possible activities with Mr. Epstein,” Garcia said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.