Bill Gates has claimed that Jeffrey Epstein used his knowledge of the Microsoft founder’s extramarital affairs as “leverage” against him.
The tech billionaire told US Congress members on Wednesday that Epstein “was working to use information about my infidelities… to pressure me”.
Senior US politicians suggested it was evidence that Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, blackmailed powerful figures in his orbit to his advantage.
Mr Gates also reportedly admitted to seeking donations from Epstein for his global health organisation despite knowledge of the paedophile’s sex crimes.
It follows awkward revelations about Mr Gates’s close relationship with the registered sex offender disclosed in the Epstein files, which the US department of justice began publishing in December.
