--- alias: - Bill Gates - William H. Gates - William H. Gates III - William Henry Gates III born: 1955-10-28 category: Technologists created: 2026-09-25 location: Seattle, Washington relations: - fn: 1 role: co-founder start: 1975 type: founded with: '[[Microsoft]]' - end: 2021 fn: 11 role: husband type: spouse_of with: '[[Melinda French Gates]]' - fn: 4 reverse: true role: chief science and technology adviser type: employed_by with: '[[Boris Nikolic]]' summary: Bill Gates is the Microsoft co-founder who met Jeffrey Epstein repeatedly from 2011 to 2014 over a proposed JPMorgan charitable fund, and whom Epstein later pressed over a relationship with a Russian bridge player. tags: - Person - BillGates - Microsoft - GatesFoundation - JeffreyEpstein - JPMorgan - Philanthropy updated: 2026-09-25 --- Bill Gates (William H. Gates III, born October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington) is the co-founder of Microsoft and co-chair of the Gates Foundation.[^1] Beginning in 2011, three years after [Jeffrey Epstein](/people/jeffrey-epstein/)'s Florida guilty plea, Gates met Epstein on numerous occasions, at least three times at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse.[^2] Epstein sought to bring Gates into a multibillion-dollar charitable fund he was trying to build with [JPMorgan Chase](/organizations/jpmorgan-chase/), and after Gates declined, Epstein wrote to him in 2017 in terms that implied knowledge of Gates's past relationship with a Russian bridge player whose training Epstein had paid for.[^3] Gates testified before the [House Oversight Committee](/organizations/house-committee-on-oversight-and-government-reform/) in June 2026 that the meetings were "a grave error in judgment."[^1] ### The Introduction Through Nikolic Gates's contact with Epstein ran through [Boris Nikolic](/people/boris-nikolic/), his chief science and technology adviser, who had been introduced to Epstein by Melanie Walker.[^4] Both Nikolic and Epstein were private-banking clients of JPMorgan, and people familiar with the bank told Bloomberg that Epstein helped its bankers attract new wealthy clients.[^4] The *[New York Times](/organizations/new-york-times/)* reported in October 2019, citing more than a dozen people familiar with the relationship, that Gates had met Epstein many times from 2011 and on at least one occasion stayed at the townhouse late into the night.[^2] Epstein's first call to the former White House Counsel [Kathryn Ruemmler](/people/kathryn-ruemmler/) in 2014 concerned her interest in Gates and his foundation.[^5] Epstein signed his will on August 8, 2019, two days before his death. It named his attorneys [Darren Indyke](/people/darren-indyke/) and [Richard Kahn](/people/richard-kahn/) as executors and Nikolic as backup executor. Nikolic said he "was not consulted in these matters and I have no intent to fulfill these duties, whatsoever."[^4] ### The JPMorgan Fund Epstein was trying to establish a large donor-advised charitable fund with JPMorgan, partly to rebuild his standing after the 2008 conviction, and he wrote to the bank in terms that suggested he advised Gates. The plan required wealthy donors, Gates among them, to pool money in the fund. Gates did not join, and the fund was never created.[^3] On July 27, 2011, Epstein outlined the structure to [Jes Staley](/people/jes-staley/) and [Mary Erdoes](/people/mary-erdoes/) of JPMorgan, copying Nikolic: "the mimimum donation would be 100 million. a portfolio will be established for each donor.according to their own critieria, there will be established silos for Medicine, Science , Women issues, Education, etc." Donors could "make presentations for larger gifts , in an on-line forum ( the worlds most exclusive Blog ).. the charitable fees. audit fees, investment mgmt fees, trustee fees, will all be JPM."[^6] On August 27, 2011 he wrote to the same two bankers: "Careful, the people at Gates-", naming four foundation staff members, two of them "the senior people," who "say they are getting confusing messages from JPM. They say that JPM wants to use the current foundation to do other things. Bill is at his country house. and most likely will not deal with it before wed. There are too many people without direction. lets speak,,"[^7] After Epstein's 2019 arrest JPMorgan conducted an internal review code-named "Project Jeep." In a June 7, 2023 letter to Judge [Jed Rakoff](/people/jed-rakoff/) in the [U.S. Virgin Islands](/organizations/government-of-the-united-states-virgin-islands/)' suit against the bank, the territory's counsel, Motley Rice, wrote that the review's e-communications summary confirmed "more than four pages of Epstein referrals to JPMorgan," including "Andrew Farkas, Boris Nikolic, Bill Gates, and [Peter Mandelson](/people/peter-mandelson/)," and quoted the testimony of JPMorgan's chief executive, [Jamie Dimon](/people/jamie-dimon/): "We did not need introductions to anybody."[^8] JPMorgan later said that "the firm didn't need him as a client" and "didn't need him for introductions," and that "knowing what we know today, we wish we had never done business with him."[^3] ### The MIT Media Lab Gift In October 2014 Gates gave 2 million dollars to the [MIT Media Lab](/organizations/mit-media-lab/), then directed by [Joi Ito](/people/joi-ito/). Internal lab emails described the gift as directed by Epstein, and Epstein claimed in 2014 to have arranged it; the lab recorded Epstein-linked money as anonymous.[^9][^10] Gates's representatives told MIT's outside investigators, the law firm Goodwin Procter, that he "flatly denies" that Epstein had anything to do with the donation, and the investigators found no evidence that the money was Epstein's.[^10] ### Mila Antonova Gates met the Russian bridge player Mila Antonova at a bridge tournament in 2010, when she was in her twenties.[^3] Seeking to fund an online bridge-teaching venture, she was introduced to Epstein by Nikolic, and in November 2013 the two met Epstein at the townhouse to pitch it, seeking 500,000 dollars; Epstein did not invest.[^3] Epstein paid for Antonova to attend a software coding school.[^3] A 2026 investigation by *Fortune* reported that Epstein also organized her U.S. visa application and let her stay at his New York house, and that he used the relationship, together with leverage through two other confidants the two men shared, to press Gates to invest in the fund.[^1] In 2017, after Gates had declined the fund, Epstein emailed Gates asking to be reimbursed for Antonova's tuition, in a message that people who saw it said implied he could disclose the relationship. Gates did not pay.[^3] Antonova told the *[Wall Street Journal](/organizations/the-wall-street-journal/)*: "I had no idea that he was a criminal or had any ulterior motive."[^3] A Gates spokeswoman told the *Journal*: "Mr. Gates met with Epstein solely for philanthropic purposes. Having failed repeatedly to draw Mr. Gates beyond these matters, Epstein tried unsuccessfully to leverage a past relationship to threaten Mr. Gates."[^3] ### Melinda French Gates Melinda French Gates met Epstein with her husband in 2013. A former foundation employee told the *Journal* that she afterward told Gates she was uncomfortable with Epstein, and the relationship continued.[^11] She met divorce lawyers in October 2019, after the *Times* report, and the couple announced their divorce after 27 years of marriage in May 2021.[^11] ### The 2026 Testimony Gates appeared voluntarily for a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee on June 10, 2026, at the request of its chairman, James Comer, after his name appeared in [Justice Department](/organizations/department-of-justice/) Epstein documents. He said the relationship ran from 2011 to at least late 2014, that he ended it after concluding that Epstein could not deliver the philanthropic money he promised, and that he never visited Epstein's island or his other properties.[^1] "I should never have met with Epstein in the first place," he said. "I never witnessed nor had any indication that Epstein was engaged in ongoing criminal conduct," and "I have never victimized anyone." He added: "While he may have sought to foster a personal relationship, I was never interested in that and never reciprocated."[^1] The committee's ranking member, Robert Garcia, said Gates had known of the conviction and "continued to interact with him to seek money for his foundation," which he called "a horrific judgment call." Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi called Gates "combative" and "not terribly forthcoming or candid"; Representative Melanie Stansbury said Gates described a "narrow relationship" he regarded as "an acceptable means to access wealthy donors"; Representative Tim Burchett called the questioning "intense."[^1] Comer said afterward that he would ask [Alan Dershowitz](/people/alan-dershowitz/) to testify and was in talks with the Justice Department about testimony from the acting attorney general, [Todd Blanche](/people/todd-blanche/).[^1] [^1]: "Gates testifies on Epstein: previous Fortune investigation reveals payments to his ex-girlfriend, $1M Microsoft deal." *Fortune,* June 10, 2026. https://fortune.com/2026/06/10/bill-gates-epstein-mistress-bankrolled-testifying-congress/ [^2]: Stewart, James B., Matthew Goldstein, and Jessica Silver-Greenberg. "Bill Gates Met With Jeffrey Epstein Many Times, Despite His Past." *The New York Times,* October 12, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/12/business/jeffrey-epstein-bill-gates.html [^3]: Safdar, Khadeeja, and Emily Glazer. "Jeffrey Epstein Apparently Threatened Bill Gates Over Affair." *The Wall Street Journal,* May 21, 2023; summarized in "WSJ: Jeffrey Epstein threatened Bill Gates over affair with Russian bridge player." *Boing Boing,* May 22, 2023. https://boingboing.net/2023/05/22/wsj-jeffrey-epstein-threatened-bill-gates-over-affair-with-russian-bridge-player.html [^4]: "Jeffrey Epstein's Executor Is Ex-Science Adviser to Bill Gates." *Bloomberg,* August 19, 2019. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-19/epstein-s-11th-hour-executor-is-ex-science-adviser-to-bill-gates [^5]: "The Former Biglaw Partner In Jeffrey Epstein's Private Calendar." *Above the Law,* May 2023, summarizing the *Wall Street Journal.* https://abovethelaw.com/2023/05/the-former-biglaw-partner-in-jeffrey-epsteins-private-calendar/ [^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01861564, DataSet 10, email from Jeffrey Epstein to Jes Staley and Mary Erdoes, copied to Boris Nikolic, July 27, 2011. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01861564.pdf [^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00918200, DataSet 9, email from Jeffrey Epstein to Jes Staley and Mary Erdoes, August 27, 2011. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00918200.pdf [^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02808715, Court Records (Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904, S.D.N.Y.), Motley Rice letter to Judge Jed S. Rakoff, "Motion Seeking Leave to Reopen Depositions," June 7, 2023, p. 5. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank%2C%20N.A.%2C%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/EFTA02808715.pdf [^9]: Farrow, Ronan. "How an Elite University Research Center Concealed Its Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein." *The New Yorker,* September 6, 2019. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-an-elite-university-research-center-concealed-its-relationship-with-jeffrey-epstein [^10]: Goodwin Procter LLP. *Report Concerning Jeffrey Epstein's Interactions with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.* January 10, 2020. https://facultygovernance.mit.edu/sites/default/files/20200121GoodwinProcterReport.pdf [^11]: *Al Jazeera,* May 10, 2021, summarizing the *Wall Street Journal* on Melinda French Gates and Epstein. https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/5/10/melinda-gates-discussed-divorcing-bill-over-epstein-ties-wsj