Fact Check: Did Bill Gates Visit Epstein Island 37 Times?
NewsweekFeb 20, 2023
The Facts
According to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report, convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein tried to blackmail Bill Gates over a 2010 extramarital affair the Microsoft co-founder had with Russian bridge player Mila Antonova.
After the affair, Boris Nikolic, a top adviser to Gates at the time, introduced Antanova to Epstein in 2013, when the two met at his Manhattan home. She asked him to fund a project teaching people how to play bridge online, though Epstein only agreed to pay for her software coding education.
The Spin
Narrative A
While it's true that Bill Gates met with Epstein within the US mainland on a few occasions, there is no proof that he ever visited Epstein's island or participated in his illegal activities. Without knowing about Epstein's sex trafficking ring, Gates did discuss philanthropic endeavors with the man in the hopes of furthering the Gates Foundation's charitable reach to help the less fortunate. Any accusations beyond these facts are wild conspiracy theories with no evidence to back them up.
Narrative B
Gates' relationship with Epstein did go beyond a few meetings and lasted well beyond 2011. Gates' name was on Epstein's plane flight log and the Gates Foundation remained in contact with the convicted pedophile through 2017. Furthermore, another college graduate, Melanie Walker, met Epstein in 1998, also through Bill Gates' science advisor Boris Nikolic, after which she obtained a job at the Gates Foundation in 2006. Gates was very connected to Epstein, and no public relations statement can change that fact.
