Melinda French Gates says ex-husband Bill Gates has questions to answer over Epstein ties

Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, during an interview on "The Circuit with Emily Chang" at the Pivotal Ventures office in Kirkland, Washington, on March 11, 2025. (Chona Kasinger/Bloomberg/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

Melinda French Gates said she was filled with “unbelievable sadness” when further documents detailing her ex-husband and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’ ties with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were released last week.

The philanthropist, who divorced Gates in 2021, opened up about her reaction to the controversy, saying she was “happy to be away from all the muck,” in a preview video of an appearance on NPR’s “Wild Card” podcast.

“Whatever questions remain there of what – I 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 said. The full interview will be released on Thursday, NPR said.

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The long relationship between Bill Gates and Epstein is well documented, but new questions emerged about their dealings when more than three million pages of files related to the Epstein investigation were released by the U.S. Department of Justice last Friday.

It’s not clear who wrote what look to be draft messages from 2013 saved in Epstein’s email account. But they appear to document, in stream-of-consciousness style, feelings of betrayal aimed at the Microsoft co-founder. The drafts mention marital discord between Gates and his then-wife Melinda. There is discussion of business deals, the idea of Gates having concerns about a sexually transmitted disease, and soured business ventures.

Gates has not been accused of any wrongdoing relating to Epstein.

A spokesperson for the software billionaire told CNN on Wednesday that he “unequivocally denies any improper conduct related to Epstein and the horrible activities in which Epstein was involved.”

Gates was asked about the latest documents in an interview with CNN-affiliate Nine News in Australia on Wednesday.

“Apparently Jeffrey wrote an email to himself. That email was never sent, the email is you know, false. So I don’t know what his thinking was there. It just reminds me, you know, every minute I spent with him I regret and I, you know, apologize that I did that,” Gates said.

He added: “It’s factually true that I was only at dinners, you know, I never went to the island. I never met any women. And so, you know, the more that comes out, the more clear it’ll be that although the time was a mistake, it had nothing to do with that kind of behavior.”

French Gates said reading the new details brought back memories of “very, very painful times in my marriage.”

She told the podcast the situation the girls were put in by Epstein is “beyond heartbreaking” and “unimaginable.”

“I’m able to take my own sadness and look at those young girls and say, my God, how did that happen to those girls?” she said. “At least for me, I’ve been able to move on in life, and I hope there’s some justice for those now-women.”

Over the last few years, Gates has repeatedly expressed regret over his decision to spend time with Epstein.

By John Liu