Bill Gates again defended his past meetings with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying Epstein took advantage of his interest in philanthropy.
In an interview with The Atlantic published Thursday, Gates said his relationship with Epstein was never social and did not involve women.
“It just underscored how foolish I was not to have better judgment, even though my intent was philanthropic,” Gates said. “There was never any social thing. I never went to the island. I was never introduced to any women. But I’ve learned a lot from that.”
Gates said Epstein gained his attention by claiming he could persuade other billionaires to donate large sums to global health causes.
“He definitely had connections with billionaires, a lot of them. And, you know, in a sense, you could say he found my weak point,” Gates added. “That by saying he could get tens of billions or 100 billions that would be donated to global health causes, that raised my interest.”
Gates said he knew about Epstein’s sex-crime conviction but believed he had served his sentence.
“I thought he had, you know, served the time, just like, you know, all sorts of ex-convicts that the foundation works with in trying to get them back into the labor market. I thought the justice system had worked.”
Breitbart News previously reported that Gates began meeting with Epstein around 2011, years after Epstein’s conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. The two reportedly met several times to discuss global health projects, with Gates visiting Epstein’s Manhattan home and flying aboard his private jet.
More recently, Gates said Epstein learned about his extramarital affairs and later tried to use that information to blackmail him. Gates has denied any involvement in Epstein’s crimes.
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