Melinda French Gates says she knew her marriage to Bill Gates was in deep trouble in 2019 when his infidelities and ties to Jeffrey Epstein were revealed publicly.
The philanthropist wrote in her new memoir, “The Next Day,” that she began having nightmares and quickly realized they were linked to her shaky marriage.
“That October, things had reached a fever pitch when The New York Times published a deeply disturbing article that raised serious questions about Bill’s conduct – questions that suggested he had betrayed not only our marriage but also my values.”
Melinda, 60, was referencing her then-husband’s friendship with Epstein, a convicted sex offender who died by suicide while awaiting trial on sex trafficking and federal conspiracy charges in 2019.
According to the article, Bill met with Epstein on “numerous occasions,” including one visit that spanned hours.
“His lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing although it would not work for me,” he emailed colleagues in 2011, after his first encounter with Epstein.
Earlier this year, the tech titan admitted that it had been a “huge mistake” to associate himself with Epstein.
“In retrospect, I was foolish to spend any time with him,” the Microsoft co-founder, 69, told the Wall Street Journal.
“I think I was quite stupid. I thought it would help me with global health philanthropy. In fact, it failed to do that. It was just a huge mistake.”
According to the outlet, Epstein threatened to expose Bill’s alleged affair with Russian bridge player Mila Antonova in 2017 after Bill had declined to join his multibillion-dollar charitable fund with JPMorgan Chase.
The billionaire, who was married to Melinda from 1994 to 2021, allegedly conducted an affair with Antonova for years.
In 2022, Melinda said in an interview that she had expressed her anger with Bill over his friendship with Epstein.
“I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, no. I made that clear to him,” she said, claiming she only met Epstein once because she “wanted to see who” he was.
“I regretted it the second I walked in the door,” Melinda admitted. “He was abhorrent. He was evil personified. My heart breaks for these women.”
Melinda wrote in her new book that leaving her marriage “was one of the hardest and most important things I’ve ever done.”
The exes share three adult children: Jennifer, 28, Rory, 25, and Phoebe, 22.
Melinda has since moved on with her entrepreneur boyfriend, Philip Vaughn, while Bill is dating Paula Hurd.
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