In a sensational disclosure, Melinda French Gates on Thursday criticized her ex-husband Bill Gates for meeting Jeffrey Epstein, the financier accused of child sex crimes, multiple times.
In her interview with CBS News on Thursday, Melinda Gates revealed that she had met Epstein once, saying that afterwards, she “had nightmares.” “I wanted to see who this man was, and I regretted it from the second I stepped in the door,” the former wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates said.
This is the first interview of Melinda French Gates since her divorce from multi-billionaire Bill Gates.
Melinda Gates referred to Epstein as “abhorrent” and “evil personified” but did not disclose whether she asked her husband to stop meeting with him.
Jeffrey Epstein, who was awaiting charges of sexual exploitation of underage girls, hanged himself in his Manhattan jail cell in August 2019.
On the question of whether her husband’s relationship with Epstein played a role in their divorce, Melinda Gates said that it was one of “many things” that contributed. In the interview, Melinda disclosed that she cried for days after the divorce, questioning herself about how she would move forward following the split.
“Well, I think it’s really important to say, look, I had a lot of tears for many days. I mean, days where I’m literally laying on the floor and the carpet, you know, this close to me, thinking, “How can this be? How can I get up? How am I gonna move forward?'” she said.
Gates said she started on this journey of healing, and she felt like she was starting to get to the other side. “And I do feel like I’m turning a page in the chapter now. I mean, it’s 2022, and I’m actually really excited about what’s to come and life ahead for me,” she said in the interview.
Melinda admitted that she and Bill Gates are “friendly at this point” and continue to have a working relationship.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Melinda had announced in May last year that they were getting divorced after 27 years of marriage. Bill Gates and Melinda Gates got married in 1994, and they have three children together.
It was reported Bill Gates’s March 2020 departure from Microsoft and the subsequent divorce occurred following an investigation into an affair he had with an employee in 2000.
Bill Gates, who founded Microsoft in 1975, has reported a wealth of $129 billion. He stepped down as the company’s CEO in 2000 and left his full-time role at Microsoft in 2008 but held onto his board seat until March 2020.
