Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has admitted to two extramarital affairs with Russian women during his marriage to ex-wife Melinda French Gates, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing a recording from a recent employee town hall at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The candid admissions occurred during a routine town hall meeting with foundation staff on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, in Seattle. Gates addressed ongoing scrutiny of his past association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, intensified by the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent release of additional Epstein-related documents.
In the meeting, Gates stated:
“I did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities.”
He clarified that Jeffrey Epstein later learned of these relationships (via discussions involving Gates’ former adviser Boris Nikolic), but stressed they did not involve any of Epstein’s victims or any illicit conduct linked to him.
Gates described his Epstein connection—starting around 2011, well after Epstein’s 2008 Florida conviction—as a “huge mistake” that contradicted the foundation’s values. He acknowledged multiple meetings with Epstein in the U.S. and internationally, including flights on Epstein’s private jet, but maintained:
“I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit.” He further emphasized, “To be clear, I never spent any time with the victims, the women around him,” and expressed regret for the reputational harm to the foundation and its staff.
The discussion also covered unverified claims in Epstein’s draft emails (e.g., allegations that Gates contracted a sexually transmitted infection from “Russian girls” and sought related cover-ups). Gates has previously rejected these as “absolutely absurd and completely false,” attributing them to a “disgruntled liar,” including in prior interviews such as one with 9 News Australia.
Gates and Melinda French Gates divorced in 2021 after 27 years of marriage. He has previously acknowledged other instances of infidelity, such as a 2019 affair with a Microsoft employee.
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A Gates Foundation spokesperson described the town hall as a standard biannual event and confirmed Gates “took responsibility for his actions,” speaking openly about the Epstein documents and related concerns while apologizing for the distraction from the organization’s global health and development mission.
These disclosures emerge against persistent public and media interest in Epstein’s network and its implications for prominent figures. Gates reiterated his remorse over the association and its unintended consequences for the foundation’s work.