Bill Gates admits to affairs with two Russian women

Bill Gates has admitted to having affairs with two Russian women.

The 70-year-old billionaire admitted to being involved with the women during his marriage to Melinda French Gates, to whom he was married from 1994 to 2021.

The admission emerged while he was apologising for his ties to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein during a Gates Foundation company town hall.

"It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein," he said, according to a recording obtained by The Wall Street Journal. "I apologise to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made."

Addressing staff during the meeting on Tuesday, Gates insisted he never saw or did anything "illicit" while spending time with Epstein, who died by suicide aged 66 in 2019.

He added, "To be clear, I never spent any time with victims, the women around him."

Elsewhere in the meeting, the Microsoft co-founder admitted to having affairs with two Russian women.

"I did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities," he stated.

Gates' remarks come after the United States Justice Department released a batch of Epstein files in late January. An unsent email alleged that Gates had sexual relations with two "Russian girls" and contracted a sexually transmitted infection (STI).

Reflecting on his connection with Epstein, Gates told staff he first met the financier and sex offender in 2011 and was last in contact with him in 2014.

"Knowing what I know now makes it, you know, a hundred times worse in terms of not only his crimes in the past, but now it's clear there was ongoing bad behaviour," he said.