Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates said he made “a huge mistake” in meeting with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“It was a huge mistake to spend time with him, to give him the credibility of being there,” Gates told CNN on Wednesday.
Gates said he met with Epstein hoping the financier could help raise money for global health issues.
“I had several dinners with him, you know, hoping that what he said about getting billions of philanthropy for global health through contacts that he had might emerge,” Gates said. “When it looked like that wasn’t a real thing, that relationship ended.”
Epstein killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges of sex-trafficking girls as young as 14. In 2008, Epstein avoided federal prosecution on similar charges in a controversial plea deal.
The Wall Street Journal reported in May that Melinda French Gates had concerns about her husband’s dealings with Epstein when she consulted lawyers to discuss a possible divorce. The Journal said several of its sources said Melinda had concerns about Bill’s relationship with Epstein since at least 2013.
The couple filed for divorce in May and the process was finalized on Monday.
“It’s a time of reflection, and at this point, I need to go forward,” Gates told CNN. “Within the family, we’ll heal the best that we can.”