Tech and business mogul Bill Gates admitted to making a big mistake by spending time with Jeffrey Epstein, accused of sex trafficking and sexual abuse.
In a conversation with CNN, the Microsoft co-founder said they had “several dinners” about a philanthropy project that did not come up.
Gates told reporters that he shouldn’t have given him “credibility.”
“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,” he went on.
“When it looked like that wasn’t a real thing, that relationship ended,” Gates stated.
Epstein committed suicide in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in New York City in August 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
Gates did not mention when the meetings happened, but US media said they were between 2011 and 2014.
The Microsoft co-founder met with the American financier before his arrest on federal charges of child sex trafficking in a maximum security jail.
However, the meetings came after Epstein served a jail sentence after being found guilty of other sex crimes in 2008.
Gates said it was a “huge mistake” spending time with him and “to give him the credibility of being there.”
American media said that Melinda French Gates was furious at their relationship.
Earlier, Gates’ representatives had downplayed his relationship with Epstein. They stated that there was no “business partnership or personal friendship” between both men.
In the CNN interview, the 65-year-old also talked about his divorce from Melinda French Gates, saying it was a source of great personal sadness.
The couple announced their split in May this year after a 27-year marriage.
Gates said his ex-wife was a great person, adding that they would try and continue working together at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The business mogul also spoke about recent allegations of workplace misbehavior and bullying.
He said: “Certainly everyone does [have regrets] but it’s a time of reflection, and at this point, I need to go forward.”
Some former Microsoft employees accused Gates of having a hot temper.
Also, former board member Maria Klawe said that he thought that behavior rules did not apply to him.
However, his representatives also downplayed those comments. Gates responded by saying that his work was very important to him and that they would “heal as best we can and learn from what’s happened.”