Melinda Gates: Bill Gates' friendship with Jeffrey Epstein made me feel he has 'Betrayed not only our marriage but also my values'

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates ’ ex-wife and founder of the Gates Foundation, Melinda French Gates, has made a major revelation about her husband’s ties with Jeffrey Epstein. In her new memoir “The Next Day”, Melinda noted that she knew her marriage to Bill Gates was facing significant issues in 2019, when his infidelities and connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein became publicly known. The philanthropist wrote that these public revelations led her to experience nightmares and recognise the severity of her marital difficulties. She was specifically referencing her then-husband’s association with Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking and federal conspiracy charges. A report published by The New York Times at that time claimed that Bill Gates met with Epstein on "numerous occasions," including one visit that lasted for hours.


What Melinda Gates said about Bill Gates’ ties with Jeffrey Epstein

In her memoir (seen by Page Six), Melinda Gates wrote: “That October, things had reached a fever pitch when The New York Times published a deeply disturbing article that raised serious questions about Bill’s conduct – questions that suggested he had betrayed not only our marriage but also my values.”

Earlier, in a 2022 interview, Melinda revealed that she had voiced her anger to Bill regarding his friendship with Epstein. Claiming that she only met Epstein once because she “wanted to see who” he was, Melinda said, “I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, no. I made that clear to him.”

“I regretted it the second I walked in the door. He was abhorrent. He was evil personified. My heart breaks for these women,” Melinda added.

In her new book, Melinda also mentioned that leaving her marriage “was one of the hardest and most important things I’ve ever done.”


What Bill Gates said about his ties with Jeffrey Epstein

The report notes that in 2011, after his first encounter with Epstein, Bill Gates sent an email to his colleagues, writing: “His lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing, although it would not work for me.”

Earlier this year, the tech billionaire also accepted that he made a “huge mistake” in associating himself with Epstein.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Gates said: “In retrospect, I was foolish to spend any time with him. 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.”