Bill Gates Admits to 3 Extramarital Affairs in Epstein Probe Testimony

Ololade Adeyanju/

Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates, has acknowledged having three extramarital affairs, including relationships with a Harvard-trained medical entrepreneur and a Russian nuclear scientist, during a closed-door congressional interview examining his ties to disgraced financier, Jeffrey Epstein.

The revelations emerged from a transcript of Gates’ June 10 testimony before the US House Oversight Committee, which was released this week as part of the committee’s wider investigation into Epstein’s network of associates and contacts.

According to the transcript, Gates admitted to relationships with Alice Jacobs Nesselrodt, a medical entrepreneur with a doctorate from Harvard Medical School; Russian nuclear scientist, Karima Nigmatulina and Russian bridge player, Mila Antonova.

The testimony marked the first time some of the women had been publicly identified by Gates in such detail.

The billionaire philanthropist was questioned extensively about his relationship with Epstein, whose association with Gates has remained a source of controversy since Gates’ divorce from Melinda French Gates in 2021 after 27 years of marriage.

The hearing was not primarily about Gates’ private life but rather his interactions with Epstein, whom he met multiple times between 2011 and 2014 despite Epstein having already been convicted of sex offences involving minors.

Gates has repeatedly described those meetings as a serious mistake.

During his congressional appearance, he again said he regretted the relationship and wished it had never happened.

In prepared remarks to lawmakers, Gates said: “I never witnessed nor had any indication that Epstein was engaged in ongoing criminal conduct.”

He also described his association with Epstein as “a grave error in judgment”.

One of the most striking aspects of the newly released testimony was Gates’ discussion of how knowledge of his affairs allegedly became part of Epstein’s efforts to gain leverage over him.

According to multiple reports based on the transcript, Gates told lawmakers that Epstein appeared to possess information about his relationships with women and may have attempted to use that information as leverage.

Gates characterised at least one communication linked to Epstein as an attempted blackmail effort, although he stopped short of saying he was successfully blackmailed.

The testimony also shed fresh light on the strain the affairs placed on Gates’ marriage.

According to reports of the interview, Gates told lawmakers that he disclosed the relationships to Melinda, describing at least one such conversation as deeply distressing for her.

The disclosures are likely to renew scrutiny of the circumstances surrounding the collapse of one of the world’s most prominent marriages.

In previous interviews, Melinda French Gates has cited her husband’s relationship with Epstein as one of several factors that contributed to the breakdown of their marriage.

The congressional appearance forms part of an ongoing House Oversight Committee investigation into Epstein, whose connections to powerful figures in politics, business and finance continue to attract intense public interest years after his death in custody in 2019.

Throughout the nearly six-hour interview, Gates maintained that his dealings with Epstein were focused on philanthropic initiatives and potential fundraising opportunities for global health projects.

He insisted he had no knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activities at the time and denied any involvement in wrongdoing.

Nevertheless, the newly released transcript has shifted attention from Gates’ charitable ambitions to his personal life, exposing details of affairs that had remained largely out of public view and adding a new dimension to the long-running controversy surrounding his relationship with Epstein.