NEW YORK: Recently released documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation contain unverified allegations involving Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, according to materials made public by the US Department of Justice.
The claims appear in draft emails Epstein wrote to himself in 2013. In those messages, Epstein alleged that Gates had sexual encounters with Russian women, contracted a sexually transmitted disease, and later sought antibiotics that could be secretly given to his then-wife, Melinda Gates. The allegations have not been substantiated.
Gates issued a strong denial following the release of the documents. A spokesperson said the claims were “absolutely absurd and completely false,” adding that the emails reflect Epstein’s frustration over the end of his relationship with Gates and what the spokesperson described as attempts to defame him.
The Justice Department said it has released more than three million pages of investigative records related to Epstein, along with over 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, following an extensive review process. Officials said that the appearance of names in the documents does not imply wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activities.
The disputed emails, dated July 18, 2013, appear to be drafts, some written in the voice of Gates’s former adviser Boris Nikolic.
In addition to the health-related claims, Epstein accused Gates of asking him to delete emails and expressed anger over Gates’s decision to end their association after several years.
Epstein also alleged he had been asked to engage in conduct he described as ethically questionable. None of these claims have been verified.
The document release also includes previously unseen photographs showing Epstein and Gates together in various settings.
Gates has previously acknowledged that he regrets his association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. Gates has consistently denied any improper conduct and has said he had no business relationship with Epstein.
Bill and Melinda Gates were married from 1994 until their divorce in 2021. Melinda Gates has said that Gates’s affairs and his association with Epstein contributed to the end of their marriage, without offering further details.