---
title: "Bill Gates Says It Was a Bad Idea to Pal Around With Jeffrey Epstein"
description: "In a BBC interview the former world's richest man and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said he shouldn't have been friends with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein."
date: "2022-05-05"
modified: "2022-05-05"
authors:
  - name: "Lonnie Lee Hood"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/ahood"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/bill-gates-jeffrey-epstein-bad-idea"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "Bill Gates"
  - "elon musk"
  - "epstein"
  - "the digest"
---

# Bill Gates Says It Was a Bad Idea to Pal Around With Jeffrey Epstein

![In a BBC interview the former world's richest man and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said he shouldn't have been friends with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/bill-gates-jeffrey-epstein-bad-idea.png>)

## Buddy Buddy

Bill Gates now says he should've never been friends with the late Jeffrey Epstein.

In [a *BBC* interview released yesterda](<https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61329167>)y, the [former world's richest man](<https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2021/10/05/for-first-time-in-30-years-bill-gates-isnt-the-no-1-or-no-2-richest-person-in-america/?sh=8b309aa77e3e>) and Microsoft co-founder responded to comments by ex-wife Melinda French Gates. In March, [she called Gates out](<https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2022/03/melinda-gates-jeffrey-epstein-led-to-bill-gates-divorce-gayle-king-interview>) for his relationship with Epstein, a wealthy financier and [convicted sex offender who died while in prison](<https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48913377>) in 2019. Gates met with Epstein multiple times in 2011 — after his sex crime conviction in 2008, notably — and stayed late into the night at his home on at least one occasion, [according *The Week*](<https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/world-news/us/952773/links-between-bill-gates-jeffrey-epstein-examined>).

"I made a mistake ever meeting with Jeffrey Epstein. You know, maybe her \[Melinda's\] instincts on that were keener than mine," Gates told the *BBC* yesterday. "Any meeting I had with him could be viewed as almost condoning his evil behavior. So, that was a mistake."

## Conspiracy Theory

Although Gates regrets the friendship, this isn't the first time he's been the subject of scandal.

It [emerged last year](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/microsoft-top-lawyer-bill-gates>), for instance, that he had to be warned by Microsoft's top council to stop hitting on employees at the software giant, and that comes on top of [allegations that he mistreated employees](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/bill-gates-horrible-employees>) while building a software monopoly.

To be fair, Gates has also sometimes been the target of conspiracy theories, ranging from nonsense accusations that he's [trying to create a food shortage](<https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bill-gates-own-farmland/>) to [mumbo jumbo about COVID vaccines](<https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bill-gates-vaccinations-depopulation/>).

Gates did fire back against the vaccine conspiracies in the *BBC* interview, saying that he had no reason to "track" people through his public health philanthropy.

Gates also went soft on rival Elon Musk, despite [the Tesla and SpaceX CEO publicly insulting him on Twitter](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-bill-gates-texts>) over Tesla stock. Gates also refused to bite back when asked for his thoughts on Musk [buying the entirety of Twitter](<https://futurism.com/elon-musk-cant-insult-twitter>).

"I have a wait and see attitude," Gates told the *BBC*.

In other words, it sounds like the aging Gates just wants the drama to end.

 **More on Musk's plans:** [*Famous NFT Hater Elon Musk Changes Profile Picture to Stolen Apes*](<https://futurism.com/nft-elon-musk-profile-picture>)