Knowing what I know now, it is a hundred times worse
Ante sus propios colaboradores, Bill Gates reconoció públicamente que su prolongada relación con el delincuente sexual convicto Jeffrey Epstein fue un error grave que dañó la reputación de su fundación. La disculpa, pronunciada en una reunión interna y captada en una grabación obtenida por The Wall Street Journal, no resuelve la pregunta más incómoda: por qué un hombre de su posición siguió frecuentando a Epstein durante años, incluso después de su condena y de las advertencias de su propia esposa. En la historia humana, pocas cosas revelan tanto el carácter como las compañías que elegimos mantener cuando ya conocemos su precio.
- Gates admitió ante el personal de su fundación haber llevado a ejecutivos a reuniones con Epstein, un hombre ya condenado por solicitar servicios sexuales a una menor, calificando la asociación de 'grave error'.
- La publicación de fotografías comprometedoras y correos electrónicos internos —en los que Epstein consignaba acusaciones sobre la vida privada de Gates— ha reabierto heridas que la fundación esperaba haber cerrado.
- Gates niega haber cometido o presenciado ningún delito, y atribuye las imágenes a peticiones del propio Epstein y los correos a posibles fabricaciones del condenado.
- La cronología es difícil de ignorar: los encuentros continuaron hasta 2014, seis años después de la condena de Epstein y a pesar de las objeciones expresas de Melinda Gates.
- La disculpa pública parece un intento de contener el daño reputacional, pero deja sin respuesta la pregunta central sobre el juicio y los valores de quien dirige una de las fundaciones filantrópicas más influyentes del mundo.
Bill Gates se dirigió al personal de su fundación con una disculpa formal: su relación con Jeffrey Epstein había manchado el nombre de la organización, y lamentaba haber arrastrado a otros a ese error. Las palabras quedaron registradas en una grabación obtenida por The Wall Street Journal. Gates reconoció haber llevado a ejecutivos de la fundación a reuniones con el delincuente convicto, y calificó el tiempo compartido con él de "error serio".
Según su propio relato en una entrevista reciente, la relación comenzó en 2011 y se prolongó hasta 2014, años después de que Epstein se declarara culpable en 2008 de solicitar servicios sexuales a una menor. Gates negó haber visitado la isla privada de Epstein en las Islas Vírgenes, pero confirmó los encuentros repetidos, pese a que su entonces esposa Melinda había expresado su preocupación por esa asociación.
Ante fotografías publicadas en las que aparece junto a mujeres con los rostros difuminados, Gates ofreció una explicación: Epstein había pedido que se tomaran esas imágenes con sus asistentes al término de las reuniones. Fue categórico al afirmar que no cometió ni presenció ningún acto ilegal, y que nunca estuvo en presencia de las víctimas de Epstein.
El cuadro se complica con una serie de correos electrónicos de 2013 en los que Epstein se enviaba a sí mismo acusaciones sobre la vida privada de Gates, incluyendo una sugerencia de administrar medicación a Melinda Gates sin su conocimiento. Gates rechazó todas esas afirmaciones y sugirió que Epstein pudo haberlas fabricado como instrumento de presión, dado que nunca fueron enviadas a terceros.
Al final, Gates reconoció ante sus empleados que había juzgado mal el carácter de Epstein: "Sabiendo lo que sé ahora, es cien veces peor". La disculpa intentó trazar una línea entre el error de asociación y la participación en delitos, pero la pregunta que persiste —por qué continuó esa relación durante tanto tiempo, con tanto conocimiento previo— sigue sin una respuesta satisfactoria.
Bill Gates stood before his foundation staff and apologized. The Microsoft cofounder acknowledged that his association with Jeffrey Epstein had stained the reputation of the organization bearing his name, though he insisted he had committed no crimes himself. "I apologize to others who have been drawn into this because of the mistake I made," Gates said during a public foundation meeting, remarks captured in a recording obtained by The Wall Street Journal. He called the time spent with Epstein "a serious error" and acknowledged bringing foundation executives to meetings with the convicted sex offender.
The relationship between Gates and Epstein began in 2011, according to Gates's own account in a recent interview with Nine News Australia. They dined together on multiple occasions over the following years. Gates denied ever visiting Epstein's private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, but the foundation leader confirmed he continued meeting with Epstein until 2014—years after Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting sexual services from a minor, and well after Gates's then-wife Melinda had expressed concern about the association.
When confronted with recently published photographs showing Gates alongside women whose faces had been obscured, he offered an explanation: Epstein had requested these images be taken with his assistants following their meetings together. Gates was emphatic on one point: "I did nothing illegal. I saw nothing illegal." He further stated that he never spent time in the presence of Epstein's victims, describing the women around Epstein as his staff rather than his exploitation network.
Yet the documentary record tells a more complicated story. In 2013, Epstein sent himself a series of emails containing allegations that Gates was engaged in an extramarital affair and seeking antibiotics to treat a sexually transmitted infection, which Epstein suggested he might slip into the medication of Gates's wife without her knowledge. Gates denied all such claims and suggested the convicted sex offender may have fabricated the emails as an attack, since they were never actually sent to anyone else.
Despite these denials, Gates acknowledged to his staff that his judgment about Epstein's character had been fundamentally wrong. "Knowing what I know now, it is a hundred times worse—not only because of his past crimes, but because it is now clear his misconduct was ongoing," he told foundation employees. The apology represented an attempt to contain the reputational damage while maintaining that Gates himself had been neither a participant in nor a witness to criminal activity. What remained unresolved was why a man of Gates's resources and position had continued the relationship for three years after Epstein's guilty plea, despite his wife's warnings.
Notable Quotes
I apologize to others who have been drawn into this because of the mistake I made— Bill Gates, speaking to foundation staff
I did nothing illegal. I saw nothing illegal.— Bill Gates
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did Gates keep meeting with Epstein after 2008, when the guilty plea was already public?
That's the question that hangs over everything. Gates says he didn't know the full scope of what Epstein had done, but that's hard to square with a guilty plea being a matter of public record. His wife was worried enough to say something.
And the photographs—the ones with the obscured faces—what's his explanation there?
He says Epstein asked him to pose for pictures with his assistants after meetings. It's a specific claim, but it raises the obvious question: why would you agree to that? Why would you need photographic evidence of time spent together?
Did Gates ever acknowledge knowing about Epstein's victims?
No. He was very clear on that point—said he never spent time with the women Epstein victimized. But he also admits he brought his own foundation staff to meet Epstein, which means he was introducing people in his orbit to someone he now acknowledges was deeply dangerous.
What about those emails Epstein sent to himself?
Gates denies them entirely. Says they were fabricated, an attack. But they exist in the record now, and they're specific—allegations about infidelity, about STI treatment, about drugging his wife. Gates's defense is essentially that they were never sent, so they don't matter.
Does the apology actually resolve anything?
It acknowledges damage to the foundation's reputation and calls the relationship a mistake. But it stops short of explaining the judgment that kept him meeting with Epstein for years after a guilty plea. The apology is damage control, not a full accounting.