Bill Gates makes mea culpa: “A huge mistake those meetings with Epstein”

“To attend Jeffrey Epstein? It was a “huge mistake”. A few days after the formalization of the divorce from Melinda, Bill Gates he gives reason to the now ex-wife and makes mea culpa in an interview with CNN, in which he also talks about the separation, defining it “a very sad goal”. While on his relationship with the financier found dead on August 10, 2019 in the cell of the New York prison where he was held on charges of abuse, prostitution and child trafficking, the Microsoft founder says he only met him because he hoped to collect more funds for yours filantropiche cause.

“I dined with him several times, hoping that he could come up with what he said about getting billions in philanthropy for global health, through the contacts he had – he reveals – When it seemed like it wasn’t real, the relationship ended” . However, Gates acknowledges that “it was a huge mistake spend time with him, give him the credibility of being there … There were many others in that same situation, but I made a mistake. “

The attendance, however, would be one of the reasons that led his wife Melinda to ask for a divorce. According to Wall Street Journal she started consulting lawyers as early as October 2019, the same month in which the New York Times revealed i frequent meetings of her husband with the controversial financier who committed suicide in prison in the previous months, after being arrested for sex trafficking of minors. Gates refuses to comment the claims of the WSJ, but according to what was revealed in recent months by a former employee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a huge source of concern for the 56-year-old was her husband’s relationship with Epstein.

The Daily Beast had already written that she – committed to promoting women’s rights – was angry when in 2013, together with her husband, she met the former financier at his residence in Manhattan: she told Bill that she was not comfortable and confided to friends that he wanted nothing to do with Epstein, already chatted about the accusations of having sexually exploited minors. He, however, continued to attend, even accepting a passage on the Lolita, his private jet used to transport the girls to his luxurious residences. Gates has always claimed to have seen him as part of his philanthropic activity, excluding having participated in the sex parties organized by Epstein, but when the meetings between the two became public the situation degenerated and Melinda contacted the lawyers.

During the interview with CNN, Gates states that “it is a moment of reflection, and at this point I must go on “.” Within the family – he continues – we will heal in the best way we can “. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundationinstead, they will decide in the next two years whether it is possible for them to continue working together, otherwise Bill will liquidate his ex-wife using his own personal funds. However, he hopes she will stay: “It would definitely be the best thing for the foundation – he says – Melinda has incredible strengths that help the foundation to be better.”