Bill Gates addresses 'regret' after presence in Jeffrey Epstein files

Wednesday, 4 February 2026 18:59

The billionaire refuted the accusations, saying he regretted ever spending time with the late sex offender.

Exclusive: Bill Gates has addressed his presence in the three million recently-released pages of the Jeffrey Epstein files, saying he regrets ever coming into contact with the convicted sex offender.

The documents appear to show draft messages in Epstein's email account alleging that Gates had used him to organise trysts with women and contracted a sexually transmitted infection.

In an exclusive interview with 9News' Chief Political Editor Charles Croucher, Gates again denied the "false" accusations.

Bill Gates has addressed his new links in the three million recently-released pages of the Jeffrey Epstein files, saying he regrets ever coming into contact with the convicted sex offender.

"Apparently, Jeffrey wrote an email to himself. That email was never sent. The email is false," he said.

"I don't know what his thinking was there. Was he trying to attack me in some way?

"Every minute I spent with him, I regret, and I apologise that I did that."

Melinda French Gates today told NPR the allegations reminded her of "very, very painful" times in her marriage, adding that her billionaire ex-husband was one of many who had questions to answer about Epstein.

Gates said he met Epstein in 2011 and had several dinners together over three years, but never visited his island nor had relations with women.

"The focus was always, he knew a lot of very rich people, and he was saying he could get them to give money to global health. In retrospect, that was a dead end," he said.

"I was foolish to spend time with him. I was one of many people who regret ever knowing him.

"The more that comes out, the more clear it will be that, although the time was a mistake, it has nothing to do with that kind of behaviour."

Gates talks AI disruption in Australia, praises social media ban

Gates became wealthy after co-founding Microsoft in 1975.

He has pledged to spend the entire endowment of the Gates Foundation, about $200 billion, to eradicate diseases and reduce poverty by the time the charity closes in 2045.

"I hope when people read about Malaria in the future, I hope they'll say what was that? The same with polio," he told 9News in the wide-ranging interview.

Now, he sees artificial intelligence as revolutionising healthcare for some of the world's poorest countries, but warned it could result in job losses in countries like Australia.

"I think it's up to people in the field to say to society at large, this could really be disruptive," he said.

Speaking about social media, Gates praised Australia's world-first ban for children under 16 as a "good idea".

"I know it's not an easy thing to implement. I think it's a favour to the world that you'll study," he said.

"We overprotect kids in the real world; we don't let them go out and do things. But we underprotect them in the digital world."

Watch the full interview at the top of the page