Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and one of the world’s wealthiest individuals, has apologized to staff at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation after his name appeared in documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
According to reports, Gates acknowledged making mistakes and told foundation employees that his past associations had caused reputational damage to the philanthropic organization, which focuses on global health and humanitarian work.
However, Gates maintained that he had no involvement in Epstein’s crimes. He said his interactions with Epstein were aimed at engaging with wealthy individuals for charitable initiatives and insisted that he neither participated in nor witnessed any illegal activity.
The development follows the release of extensive material by the United States Department of Justice, which made public approximately three million pages of documents, 180,000 images, and 2,000 videos related to Epstein.
The disclosures have drawn renewed scrutiny over individuals linked to Epstein, though no new criminal allegations against Gates have been announced in connection with the released files.