Bill Gates Admits He Was 'Foolish' to Spend Time With Jeffrey Epstein: 'I'm Very Apologetic That I Gave Him Any Credibility at All'

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates addressed his past relationship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein during a recent Anderson Cooper 360 broadcast. This marked his first public interview since testifying in a closed-door House Oversight Committee hearing in June.

Cooper questioned Gates about unsent draft emails from Epstein that appeared to indicate an attempt to blackmail the billionaire over his infidelity to ex-wife Melinda French Gates.

Gates stated he was unaware of any blackmail plot at the time.

"No. I didn't know that he was considering blackmailing me. He never did blackmail me, but, you know, it just shows how foolish I was to spend time with him,” he said.

Gates reiterated that his initial meetings were based on a "misguided view" that Epstein could help him secure global health philanthropic funds, calling the association a "gigantic mistake.”

Gates emphasized that the information provided to the congressional committee is fully transparent.

He stated that he went through "every single meeting, every single email," maintained no social relationship with Epstein and did not meet any women through him.

"I'm very apologetic that I gave him any credibility at all,” he said.

The association cost Gates dearly.

In July, following his testimony to the House Oversight Committee about his ties to Epstein, billionaire investor Warren Buffett publicly distanced himself from Gates.

Buffett described the relationship with Epstein as "distasteful" and altered his estate planning to completely exclude the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation from his remaining fortune.

By cutting off the Gates Foundation, Buffett redirected more than $140 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock away from Gates' primary charity, opting instead to leave those future funds to foundations run by his own children.

Independent investigations into the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation confirmed that while foundation staff met with Epstein roughly 30 times between 2011 and 2014 to discuss potential global health fundraising, no funds were ever created, and no direct financial payments were ever made to Epstein. The foundation's image, along with Gates' took a big hit despite that.

Speaking to CBS Mornings in March 2022, French Gates addressed her ex-husband's multiple meetings with Epstein.

When asked about her former spouse's public statements of regret and explanations that the meetings were solely for philanthropy, she pointedly responded, “Any look back is easy. But those questions are for Bill to answer. I made it very clear how I felt about that man... It wasn't one thing; it was many things. But I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, no. I made that clear to him."