Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has dismissed allegations of an extramarital affair, calling the claims “absolutely absurd and completely false,” after they surfaced in a newly released batch of documents related to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
A spokesperson for Gates told The Independent, “These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false. The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein’s frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame.”
The allegations appear in an email Epstein sent to himself on July 18, 2013, with the subject line “bill.” The 225-word email was among more than three million documents released by the US Department of Justice on Friday under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law in November.
In the email, Epstein claimed that Gates had engaged in extramarital sex and alleged that he had helped facilitate “illicit trysts” for the billionaire during what he described as a period of “severe marital dispute” between Gates and his then-wife, Melinda Gates. The couple announced their divorce in May 2021,
Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, also wrote in the email, “I have decided to resign my position effective immediately with BG3 and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.” He further alleged that, as an associate of Gates, he had been asked to do things that were “potentially over the line into the illegal", The Independent reported.
Gates has previously acknowledged meeting Epstein. In a 2021 interview with PBS News, he said he had several dinners with Epstein in the hope of raising funds for global health initiatives, describing those meetings as “a mistake”.
The newly released material includes thousands of emails, court filings and photographs, many of which mention prominent figures such as President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton and entrepreneur Elon Musk. Officials have emphasised that being named in the documents does not, by itself, constitute evidence of wrongdoing.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the large-scale release complies with federal law and “marks the end of a very comprehensive” review process.
