Convicted sex offender Jefferey Epstein attempted to blackmail Microsoft founder Bill Gates over an alleged intimate relationship with a Russian bridge player, a new report by the Wall Street Journal indicates.
A spokesperson for Gates has since confirmed the disgraced billionaire attempted to blackmail Gates and repeated that it was 'a mistake' to ever have met with the now-deceased paedophile.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Epstein tried to use his knowledge of Gates' 2010 affair with Russian woman Mila Antonova.
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The disgraced paedophile billionaire, who killed himself in prison in 2019, attempted to strong-arm Gates to invest in a multibillion-dollar charitable fund in 2013.
Gates, however, still refused to invest in the charity despite Epstein's supposed threats.
Sources who spoke to the Journal added Epstein threatened Gates into reimbursing him for tuition costs that the sex offender had initially fronted for Antonova to attend software coding school.
As per reports, Epstein sent the fellow billionaire an email in 2017 that implied he was aware of Gates' alleged affair with the bridge player Mila Antonova and vowed to reveal his infidelity to Gates' then-wife Melinda and the world.
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Gates met Antonova circa 2010, when she was in her 20s.
The two went on to play bridge together ande in a 2010 YouTube video, Antonova recounted a tournament in which she played against Gates.
In the clip, she said: "I didn’t beat him but I tried to kick him with my leg."
As per documents obtained by the Journal, the Russian woman had hoped to establish an online tutorial business to teach people how to play bridge and was in the process of securing funds for her card education venture.
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Antonova was introduced to Epstein by close Gates adviser Boris Nikolic in order to help her raise funds for her initiative.
Reports indicate the Russian card player had hoped to 'promote bridge by creating quality tutorials for beginners and advanced players'.
Antonova and Gates' adviser met Epstein at his New York townhouse in November 2013.
Once at the paedophile's home, she presented her fundraising proposals and asked the disgraced billionaire for half a million dollars.
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Antonova told the Journal that Epstein did not invest in the card tuition initiative.
Bill Gates declines he ever paid Antonova's fees or had 'any financial dealings with Epstein' of any kind.
In a statement to the Daily Mail, a spokesperson for Gates said: "As Bill has said before, it was a mistake to have ever met him."
A spokesperson for Gates also told the Journal that he did not pay for the cost of Antonova's coding school.
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"Mr. Gates met with Epstein solely for philanthropic purposes," the spokesperson said.
"Having failed repeatedly to draw Mr. Gates beyond these matters, and Epstein tried unsuccessfully to leverage a past relationship to threaten Mr. Gates."
Bill Gates was approached for comment.
Topics: News, Jeffrey Epstein, Bill Gates, Sex and Relationships, Celebrity