Bill Gates apologises to Foundation staff over Epstein ties: report

Bill Gates apologizes to Foundation staff for ties to Epstein and admits to past affairs, emphasizing he committed no crimes.

American tech entrepreneur Bill Gates has apologised to the staff at the Gates Foundation over his ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein but maintained that he did “nothing illicit,” according to a media report.

The Microsoft co-founder also admitted that he had two affairs with Russian women and that he made mistakes that had cast a cloud over the philanthropic group while insisting he didn’t participate in Epstein’s crimes,The Wall Street Journal said in an exclusive report on Tuesday (February 25, 2026).

Mr. Gates was among the scores of celebrities, politicians, leaders, and tech entrepreneurs shown having connections with the sex offender, as was evident in the tens of thousands of documents, including emails, interview transcripts, photos, call logs, etc., with some names redacted, released online – collectively termed Epstein files - last month by the U.S. Justice Department.

In a town hall on Tuesday (February 25, 2026), Mr. Gates acknowledged that he had two affairs with Russian women that Epstein later discovered, but that they didn’t involve Epstein’s victims. “I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” Mr. Gates said, according to a recording reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Gates said images in the recently released Epstein files showing him with women whose faces are redacted were pictures that Epstein asked him to take with Epstein’s assistants after their meetings. “To be clear, I never spent any time with victims, the women around him,” Mr. Gates said.

“It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein,” and bring Gates Foundation executives into meetings with the sex offender, Mr. Gates said.