(CNN) – The newly released Jeffrey Epstein files are raising questions about the relationship between Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and the disgraced financier.
Draft messages from 2013 saved in Epstein’s email account appear to document feelings of betrayal aimed at Gates.
The drafts also mention business deals, Gates having concerns about a sexually transmitted disease and soured business ventures.
Gates apologized in a recent interview for spending time with Epstein.
“Every minute I spent with him, I regret. And I apologize that I did that,” Gates said in the interview with 9News Australia. “I never went to the island. I never met any women . . . the time was a mistake, it had nothing to do with that kind of behavior.”
Gates said he first met Epstein in 2011.
“The focus was always that he knew a lot of very rich people, and he was saying he could get them to give money to global health,” Gates said. “In retrospect, that was a dead end, and I was foolish to spend time with him. I was one of many people who regretted ever knowing him.”
Gates spoke publicly for the first time since the Justice Department’s latest release of nearly three million pages of documents related to Epstein.
Copyright 2026 9News Australia via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.