Bill Gates has addressed his name being mentioned in the newly released Epstein files, saying he regrets 'every minute [he] spent with him'.
In the files released last week there, were shocking allegations that the tech mogul caught STDs from Russia girls, per an email from the disgraced financier sent in 2013.
The message Epstein is believed to have sent to himself, despite it being addressed to 'Bill', read: "To add insult to the injury you them [sic] implore me to please delete the emails regarding your std, your request that I provide you antibiotics that you can surreptitiously give to Melinda and the description of your penis."
Gates has now addressed the claims and denied them in an interview with 9News.
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"Apparently, Jeffrey wrote an email to himself. That email was never sent. The email is false," the Microsoft founder said of the damning memo.
"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."
He went on to say that he met Epstein in 2011 and had several dinners with him afterwards.
Gates insisted that he never visited Epstein's infamous island, however, and never had any 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 told the Australian news outlet.
"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' ex wife Melinda has also addressed her former husband being named in the documents.
Speaking on NPR's Wild Card podcast, Melinda said that 'whatever questions remain there of what I don’t — can’t even begin to know all of it — those questions are for those people and for even my ex-husband'.
"They need to answer to those things, not me," she continued.
"I think we're having a reckoning as a society, right? No girl, no girl should ever be put in the situation that they were put in by Epstein and whatever was going on with all of the various people around him.
"It's beyond heartbreaking, right? I remember being those ages those girls were, I remember my daughters being those ages.
"So for me, it’s personally hard whenever those details come up, right, because [it] brings back memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage."
Topics: Bill Gates, Jeffrey Epstein, News
Niamh Shackleton