Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has taken another battering after the Justice Department released files detailing his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
In a February town hall with Gates Foundation staff, Gates admitted to two affairs referenced in Epstein’s emails. Some people familiar with the matter said they heard about the admission with disbelief, although they should not have been too surprised, as during his divorce proceedings, allegations linked to more than 20 affairs had come up.
The Justice Department files show Epstein knew about some of Gates’s extramarital relationships. A Gates spokesperson said he was not involved in any illegal activities with Epstein and accepted it had been a mistake to meet him.
“Gates has apologised for that mistake and is voluntarily speaking with the House Oversight Committee [in June] to answer questions about his interactions with Epstein. Gates supports the release of all the Epstein files in hopes the victims can get the justice that they deserve,” the spokesperson said.
But according to the Wall Street Journal, Gates has been given the cold shoulder by Microsoft, the outfit he co-founded and still looms over like a corporate ghost.
He usually hosts a dinner at his Washington state home tied to Microsoft’s annual CEO summit. Weeks before the May event, his team was told it would be better not to do it this year.
A Volish spokesman said: “While it didn’t work out this year, we’ve already extended an invitation for Bill to attend the CEO Summit next year.”
There was more awkwardness at TerraPower, the nuclear outfit Gates founded. After the Epstein files release and Gates’s admission of affairs, TerraPower chief executive told staff he had spoken to Gates’s private office and “it is clear it doesn’t involve TerraPower.”
Several current and former TerraPower employees found that a bit puzzling. One of the women Gates referred to as a past affair, a “Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities,” had close ties to TerraPower.
She worked at TerraPower from 2010 to 2012, according to her LinkedIn page, and her name was in the company’s internal system. She was featured in a 2011 magazine article about her work at TerraPower, including a photo shoot with Gates.
The Gates spokesperson said he did not have “an inappropriate relationship with any employee of TerraPower.”
A person familiar with the matter said the brief affair happened after she worked at TerraPower, so that clears that up.
Bill Gates, Jeffrey Epstein, Microsoft, Gates Foundation, TerraPower, Netflix, Tremolo Productions, Gates Ventures, Justice Department