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Bill Gates and Jeffrey Epstein: What the Records Say About Their Meetings and Staff Apology

Gates said he met Epstein over claimed global-health fundraising, later called the meetings a grave error, and ended contact in 2014. Here is what he, the foundation, and the reported external review said.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read
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Bill Gates says he met Jeffrey Epstein because Epstein claimed he could help raise money for global health. Gates later called the meetings a grave error and said he should never have met him. The Gates Foundation says it did not pursue a collaboration, create a fund with Epstein, or pay or employ him. A foundation-commissioned review, as summarized by the Associated Press in July 2026, counted roughly 30 meetings involving Gates and foundation staff together—not 30 meetings by Gates alone—and found no evidence the foundation paid Epstein or acted illegally.

How Gates says the relationship began and ended

In prepared remarks for the U.S. House Oversight Committee, Gates said people he trusted in professional and philanthropic work introduced him to Epstein in 2011. Gates said Epstein claimed he could raise money for global health, and that their conversations concerned possible donors and charitable-giving structures. The prepared remarks are Gates’s account of the meetings and their purpose.

The Associated Press reported that the foundation-commissioned WilmerHale review also described an introduction by an adviser to Gates’s foundation and personal office. AP noted that Epstein had pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a minor, three years before the introduction.

Period What the record says
2011 Gates said he had three preliminary meetings with Epstein.
2012 Gates said he had two more preliminary meetings. AP’s account of the review says Epstein introduced Gates to Terje Rød-Larsen, then head of the International Peace Institute.
2013–2014 Gates said conversations became more extensive and still concerned potential donors and giving structures. AP reported that the review counted roughly 30 meetings involving Gates and foundation staff over 2011–2014.
December 2014 Gates said he decided Epstein would not deliver the promised donors and ended contact. Gates said no charitable-giving vehicle was created and no money was raised through the proposed fund.

The meeting totals describe different scopes: Gates’s figures are his count of his own preliminary meetings in 2011 and 2012, while the review’s approximate total covers meetings involving both Gates and foundation staff across 2011–2014. The roughly 30 figure should not be read as 30 meetings attended by Gates personally.

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What the foundation says about money and staff involvement

In a February 2026 statement responding to newly released U.S. Department of Justice emails, the foundation said staff had engaged with Epstein based on his fundraising claims. It said the foundation did not pursue a collaboration, create a fund with him, make payments to him, or employ him, and said it regretted staff interactions. These are the foundation’s stated position, published in its statement on the DOJ-released emails.

The review’s reported scope also included discussions about a proposed public-health fund and an International Peace Institute grant. AP reported that the foundation later made a grant to the institute related to polio eradication; that is distinct from a payment to Epstein. AP’s July 21, 2026 summary of the WilmerHale review said it found no evidence the foundation paid Epstein or acted illegally. The foundation released a three-page summary, and AP said it had not announced whether it would release the full review.

What Gates apologized for—and what is confirmed

Gates apologized to foundation employees at a February 2026 town hall, according to a Wall Street Journal report based on a recording, summarized by Reuters. Reuters separately reported that a foundation spokesperson confirmed Gates “took responsibility for his actions.” The more detailed account of the town-hall apology is therefore attributable to the Journal’s report, not to a published town-hall transcript or a foundation confirmation of every reported quotation. Reuters’s account was republished by Investing.com.

Gates’s later public remarks offer his own direct assessment, rather than a transcript of that staff meeting. In prepared remarks to the House Oversight Committee, he said, “I should never have met with Epstein in the first place” and described the meeting as “a grave error in judgement” that put the work at risk. The spelling “judgement” appears in his statement.

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What Gates told Congress in June 2026

On June 10, 2026, Gates published prepared remarks and testified before the House Oversight Committee. He said: “I never witnessed nor had any indication that Epstein was engaged in ongoing criminal conduct.” He also said he had never visited Epstein’s island, ranch, or Florida home. Those are Gates’s statements, not findings by an independent investigation. His prepared statement sets out his account; the committee’s official deposition transcript provides the question-and-answer record.

The records summarized here document meetings, statements, and a review of foundation-related interactions. They do not establish that association with Epstein amounted to participation in his crimes. AP reported in July 2026 that Gates had not been accused in connection with those crimes; that status is time-bound to the reporting.

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