The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has released a comprehensive transcript of its closed-door interview with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. The testimony provides a detailed look into how disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein gathered sensitive personal information to build leverage against one of the world’s wealthiest men.
During the questioning, Gates explicitly named three women with whom he had extramarital affairs: Russian bridge player Mila Antonova, nuclear physicist Karima Nigmatulina, and medical entrepreneur Dr. Alice Jacobs. Gates testified that he believed a mutual acquaintance, former science advisor Dr. Boris Nikolic, inadvertently leaked information about the affairs to Epstein.
While Gates maintained that Epstein never successfully blackmailed him, he told investigators, “it looks like Mr. Epstein’s brainstorming was going in that direction.”
Committee staff pressed Gates on a series of internal draft emails from July 2013 that Epstein had sent to himself. The emails, written from the perspective of a disgruntled employee, outlined aggressive financial demands, including five years of severance, a home worth over $10 million, and a multi-million dollar partnership stake.
The drafts also contained highly personal claims, alleging that Gates had begged associates to delete emails concerning a sexually transmitted disease scare, a physical description of his anatomy, and requests for antibiotics to secretly administer to his then-wife, Melinda French Gates.
Gates flatly rejected the allegations regarding his health and medication as total fabrications. “I never had an STD,” Gates stated during the interview. “I’ve said I may have indicated some concern about whether I had an STD; I don’t recall that. But I never had an STD. I never gave medicines to anyone covertly.” He explained that Epstein routinely recorded a mix of factual vulnerabilities and complete lies in his notes to manufacture leverage.
The transcript sheds new light on the exact timeline and nature of Gates’ meetings with Epstein, which totaled 12 to 14 in-person encounters and two Skype calls between 2011 and 2014. Gates testified that his sole motivation was securing billions of dollars from wealthy donors for global health organizations like GAVI and the Global Fund. Under pressure to prove these donors existed, Epstein arranged a series of back-to-back meetings in New York in September 2014.
Gates recalled meeting with several prominent financial and corporate figures that day, including Apollo Global Management co-founders Leon Black and Josh Harris, hotel magnate Tom Pritzker, and real estate billionaire Mort Zuckerman. Former Obama White House Counsel Kathy Ruemmler also attended a meeting to discuss general politics.
Gates characterized the fundraising push as a complete failure, noting that while the billionaires were polite, none showed any actual interest in donating to global health. Gates also used the session to correct the record on other rumored meetings, stating he had never met filmmaker Woody Allen and did not meet with economist Larry Summers on that specific date.
The tech pioneer admitted he displayed poor judgment by continuing to meet with Epstein, especially after his then-wife, Melinda, attended a joint dinner with the financier in late 2013. According to Gates, she was instantly repulsed by Epstein, later describing him publicly as “evil personified.” Gates noted, “She certainly showed better judgment than I did,” adding that his own stubbornness to secure global health funding caused him to ignore obvious reputational risks.
Beyond his interactions with Congress, Gates disclosed that he has cooperated with other law enforcement entities. His legal counsel confirmed during the hearing that Gates voluntarily participated in a proffer session and handed over financial documents to the Attorney General of the U.S. Virgin Islands. That inquiry primarily focused on tax matters and banking issues tied to J.P. Morgan Chase.
Gates also clarified a controversial $2 million donation made to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) during his period of contact with Epstein. He explained that he had long supported the university’s medical research, but explicitly informed Epstein of this specific donation to stop the financier from repeatedly badgering him to make charitable contributions in Epstein’s own name.
Gates emphasized that he severed all communication with Epstein in December 2014, and his representatives subsequently made it clear that the separation was permanent.
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