Bill Gates described himself as "foolish" for spending time with Jeffrey Epstein and denied any wrongdoing, while his ex-wife, Melinda, says she is "happy to be away from all the muck" surrounding the controversy.
It followed the release of the latest batch of documents and images related to a US Department of Justice investigation into the late disgraced financier.
In an exclusive interview with Nine News, the Microsoft co-founder said that he met Epstein in 2011 because he knew of his wide-reaching network of possible funders that could help with the work of his Gates Foundation.
"I met Jeffrey (Epstein) in 2011. The focus was always he knew a lot of very rich people and he was saying he could get them to give money to global health.
"You know, in retrospect that was a dead end and I was foolish to spend time with him. I was one of many people who regret ever knowing him."
Gates stressed that he had "nothing to do with that kind of behaviour" that reportedly went on at Epstein's infamous private Caribbean island.
"It's factually true that I was only at dinners, you know, I never went to the island. I never met any women and so, you know, the more that comes out, the more clear it'll be that although the time was a mistake, it had nothing to do with that kind of behaviour."
The new files included "extensive" redactions across more than three million pages, 2000 videos, and 180,000 images. (Source: 1News)
Among the latest documents released was an email said to have been written by Epstein about Gates, which claimed he hid a sexually transmitted disease from his wife after contact with “Russian girls”.
In the interview, Gates said that Epstein had written that email to himself, had never sent it, and he insisted that the contents were "false".
"That email was never sent. The email is, you know, false. So, I don't know what his thinking was there. It just reminds me every minute I spent with him I regret and I apologise that I did that."
Epstein died by suicide in a jail cell in 2019, while awaiting trial on US federal charges accusing him of sexually abusing dozens of girls.
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including raw sewage flowing into the sea, Bill Gates talks about his ties to Epstein, and the Black Foils count down to Auckland Sail GP. (Source: 1News)
Ex-wife says she's filled with 'unbelievable sadness'
Philanthropist Melinda French Gates says she was filled with “unbelievable sadness” when further documents detailing her ex-husband's ties with Epstein.
Melinda Gates, who was speaking about her reaction to the controversy, said she was “happy to be away from all the muck,” in a video appearance on an NPR podcast.
"For me it's personally hard whenever those details come up, right because, brings back memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage," she said.
"But I have moved on from that. I purposely pushed it away and I moved on. I'm in a really unexpected, beautiful place in my life.
"So whatever questions remain there of what I don't can't even begin to know all of it. Those questions are for those people and for even my ex-husband. They need to answer to those things, not me. And I am so happy to be away from all the muck."
Melinda and Bill divorced in 2021.
Bill Gates has not been accused of any wrongdoing relating to Epstein.
— additional reporting by 1News
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