Bill Gates calls relationship with Epstein a ‘huge mistake’

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Wednesday said his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein was a “huge mistake.”

Gates, during an interview on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” admitted to having “several dinners” with Epstein, who was charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy in 2019 before being found unconscious in his Manhattan jail cell. He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Cooper noted that one of the meetings between Gates and Epstein took place in 2011, when the latter had already been convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor.

Gates said he was meeting with Epstein to discuss the prospect of receiving billions of dollars in philanthropy, but once it “looked like that wasn’t a real thing,” he ended the relationship.

“I had several dinners with him, you know, hoping that what he said about getting billions of philanthropy for global health through contacts that he had might emerge, and when it looked like that wasn’t a real thing, that relationship ended,” Gates said.

He continued, telling Cooper that it was a “huge mistake” to give Epstein credibility by meeting with him.

“But it was a huge mistake to spend time with him, to give him the credibility of, you know, being there, there were lots of others in that same situation, but I made a mistake,” he said.

Bill Gates explains his past relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, saying they shared “several dinners” in which he hoped to raise “billions of philanthropy.”

“When it looked like that wasn’t a real thing, that relationship ended… it was a huge mistake to spend time with him.” pic.twitter.com/ljBMYD94Ei

— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) August 5, 2021

The Wall Street Journal reported in May that Melinda Gates met with divorce lawyers in 2019 following reports regarding the relationship between her husband and Epstein.

The couple’s divorce was finalized on Monday. Gates told Cooper it was a “very sad milestone” but said the pair is still communicating and working at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation together.

One source told the Journal that a concern Melinda Gates had with her ex-husband was his ties to Epstein.

Bill Gates in September 2019 told Axios “I wish I hadn’t met with him,” referring to Epstein.

He told the news organization at the time that he did not know Epstein “that well,” contending that the two were connected for potential philanthropy work. He said they eventually stopped meeting because “that didn’t materialize.”

When asked about reports that Gates’s behavior created an uncomfortable workplace environment in the past and if he has regrets, Gates told Cooper, “Oh certainly I think everyone does,” adding, “You know, at this point I need to go forward.”

“My work is very important to me, you know, within the family we’ll heal as best we can and learn from what’s happened,” he added.