bill gates jeffrey epstein
Bill Gates had dozens of meeting with Jeffrey Epstein where they discussed his marriage to Melinda, according to a new report. Bill Gates is pictured at Epstein's Manhattan mansion in 2011, from left: James E. Staley, at the time a senior JPMorgan executive; former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers; Epstein; Gates and Boris Nikolic, who was the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's science adviser.
Jeffrey Epstein suggested Bill Gates should leave his wife Melinda during dozens of meetings at the convicted pedophile's $77million Manhattan townhouse, according to a person who attended the 'men's club'-style get-togethers.

Gates' visits to Epstein's 'lair' were an escape from his unhappy marriage, and the pair 'were very close', a source told The Daily Beast.

The report alleges the pair's friendship blurred personal and professional lines, and was much closer than Gates had previously admitted.

The Daily Beast revealed Gates sought marriage advice from Epstein during dozens of meetings between 2011 and 2014, far more than had previously been reported.

Gates apparently told Epstein his marriage to Melinda was 'toxic', which both men found funny, according to the report. A spokeswoman for Gates said he had never talked in a disparaging way about Melinda.

Bill and Melinda Gates - one of the world's richest couples with a fortune of $130billion - announced earlier this month that they were getting a divorce after 27 years of marriage.

The news comes as another blow to Gates who - in two new bombshell reports - was revealed to have had an affair 20 years ago, and was accused of making advances on employees at both Microsoft and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The affair came to light after the Microsoft employee wrote to the board in 2019 with details, and allegedly asked that Gates' estranged wife read the letter.

The Microsoft board decided that Gates - who left Microsoft unexpectedly last year - should step down after the relationship in 2000 was deemed to be 'inappropriate', the Wall Street Journal reported.

Gates' spokeswoman confirmed he had a sexual relationship with a female staff member in 2000 and that he resigned as an investigation into the relationship was being conducted by an external law firm on behalf of the company board.

The New York Times also reported that Gates asked a Microsoft employee in 2006 after watching her make a presentation and, couple of years later, asked out an employee with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - both while he was married.

Gates reportedly told the Microsoft employee in an email: 'If this makes you uncomfortable, pretend it never happened.' She said she took his advice.

Gates later allegedly asked an employee with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to dinner, while the pair were in New York for a trip.

According to the The Daily Beast report, Gates suggested Epstein become involved with the couple's philanthropic organization and 'rehabilitate his image' after his 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution, according to a person who attended the meetings.

Melinda Gates was so incensed by the friendship that she started speaking to a divorce lawyer after the pair's close ties were first reported by the New York Times in October 2019.

The friendship between Gates and Epstein began in 2011, three years after Epstein had pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor.

The Daily Beast reported on Sunday that the pair had met 'dozens of times' at Epstein's palatial $77m townhouse on Manhattan's Upper East Side between 2011 and 2014.

The pair would chat about science and philanthropy, as well as joking and gossiping in a 'men's club' atmosphere, the Daily Beast claimed.

Melinda Gates warned her husband Bill against any further contact with Jeffrey Epstein after the couple had an uncomfortable meeting with the convicted sex offender in 2013.

Melinda was 'furious' at Bill's relationship with Epstein after the couple visited the predator's Upper East Side townhouse in September 2013.

The meeting proved a turning point in Bill's relationship with Epstein, after Melinda expressed how uncomfortable she was with the sex offender and said she wanted nothing to do with him, the sources said.

Gates and Epstein became friendly in 2011 when Epstein pitched a fund to the Gates Foundation and JP Morgan.

When they met, Epstein had already spent a year in prison for soliciting child prostitution, but he was welcomed back into the upper echelons of New York society.

After their first meeting, Gates sent an email to colleagues saying of Epstein: 'His lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing although it would not work for me.'

When the friendship was first revealed in 2019, Gates told the Wall Street Journal: 'I didn't have any business relationship or friendship with him'.

After further revelations came in the New York Times in October 2019, a spokeswoman said he 'regrets ever meeting with Epstein and recognizes it was an error in judgment to do so.'

Gates said in a statement to the New York Times at the time: 'I didn't go to New Mexico or Florida or Palm Beach or any of that. There were people around [Epstein] who were saying, 'Hey, if you want to raise money for global health and get more philanthropy, he knows a lot of rich people.'

'Every meeting where I was with him were meetings with men. I was never at any parties or anything like that. He never donated any money to anything that I know about.'

After the latest claims were put to Gates, his spokeswoman said the 'characterization of his meetings with Epstein and others about philanthropy is inaccurate'.

'Similarly, any claim that Gates spoke of his marriage or Melinda in a disparaging manner is false.'

The same month the New York Times published details of Gates' friendship with Epstein in 2019, Melinda began consulting with divorce lawyers, which culminated in the announcement this month that their 27 year marriage was over.

Gates suggested Epstein become involved with the couple's philanthropic organization and 'rehabilitate his image' after his 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution, according to a person who attended the meetings.

Gates' visits to Epstein's 'lair' was an escape from the marriage, according to the source, who claimed the pair 'were very close'.

The Gateses, one of the world's richest couples with a fortune of $130billion, announced this month they were getting divorced, with Melinda saying the marriage is 'irretrievably broken' in divorce filings.

Epstein died in August 2019 in the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York, while awaiting trial for child sex trafficking charges.


Comment: Notice they didn't say he committed suicide. Rather refreshing for a mainstream news source to not parrot that tired claim.


The report about Gate's apparent friendship with Epstein is a further blow to the world's fourth richest man, after he admitted to having a relationship with a female staff member in 2000 while married to his wife Melinda.

It was also reported that he asked two women who worked at Microsoft and his philanthropic foundation out on dates, also while married.

Gate's affair came to light after the Microsoft employee wrote to the board in 2019 detailing the affair - and allegedly asked that Gates' estranged wife, 56, read the letter.

Gates quit the board suddenly in March 2020 while the investigation was still underway.

His spokeswoman confirmed there had been an affair almost 20 years ago but said his decision to leave Microsoft's board was not linked to it.

The Microsoft board decided that Gates should step down after the relationship was deemed to be 'inappropriate', the Wall Street Journal reported.

The same day Gates quit Microsoft he also announced he was stepping down from his position with the board of Berkshire Hathaway, run by his friend Warren Buffet.

In a press release the tech mogul said he would continue to serve as a technical adviser to Microsoft's Chief Executive Satya Nadella.

A Microsoft spokesman told the Wall Street Journal: 'Microsoft received a concern in the latter half of 2019 that Bill Gates sought to initiate an intimate relationship with a company employee in the year 2000.

'A committee of the Board reviewed the concern, aided by an outside law firm to conduct a thorough investigation. Throughout the investigation, Microsoft provided extensive support to the employee who raised the concern.'

A spokeswoman for Gates said his decision to leave the board had nothing to do with the affair, saying 'There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably.'

The spokeswoman told the Journal his 'decision to transition off the board was in no way related to this matter. In fact, he had expressed an interest in spending more time on his philanthropy starting several years earlier.'

The New York Times also reported that Gates, 64, asked out a Microsoft employee in 2006 after watching her make a presentation.

'If this makes you uncomfortable, pretend it never happened,' Gates emailed the employee, according to the Times.

The woman took his advice and pretended it never happened.

A couple of years later, Gates asked out an employee with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The pair were in New York for a work trip, when he told her: 'I want to see you. Will you have dinner with me?'

The woman told the Times the approach made her feel uncomfortable, but she laughed it off.

The report said there was no expectation that the women would suffer professional repercussions for spurning Gates' advances.

It's not clear whether Melinda Gates, who met Bill at Microsoft in the late 1980s, was aware of her husband's advances.