Topline
Billionaire Bill Gates was warned in 2014 to maintain a “healthy distance” from Jeffrey Epstein—by an associate who appeared to stay friendly with Epstein until his death—according to an email reported Sunday by The Wall Street Journal, raising new questions about Gates’ relationship with Epstein as the Microsoft cofounder prepares to speak with Congress.
Key Facts
Melanie Walker, a medical expert who previously worked for Gates while being friends with Epstein, wrote in an August 2014 to Gates he should maintain “a healthy distance for anything of a personal nature” when it came to Epstein, the Journal reported Sunday evening.
Walker warned of consequences she had seen “happen to too many powerful people over the years” because of Epstein, and said the late financier tried to appeal to people’s “weaknesses or proclivities.”
Gates has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein but had a yearslong professional relationship with the financier, meeting with him multiple times starting in 2011 about starting a potential charitable fund before largely cutting ties with Epstein in late 2014—shortly after Walker’s reported email.
A spokesperson for Gates did not respond to a request for comment about the email or whether it influenced Gates distancing himself from Epstein, with other emails in the Epstein files suggesting Gates told the financier in late 2014 their plan for a charitable fund would not “come together … anytime soon.”
Documents in the Epstein files suggest Walker had a longrunning friendship with Epstein, including frequent discussion about her work with Gates, with emails showing the two corresponding as recently as February 2019—only months before Epstein was arrested and subsequently died in prison, and long after she suggested to Gates the financier couldn’t be trusted.
Walker’s attorney David Fleissig has suggested she instead had a more complicated relationship with Epstein, as the 2014 email suggests, describing her in a statement to the Journal as “a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein” who was subjected to “a coercive relationship that spanned decades and ended only with his death.”
What to Watch for
Gates will be interviewed Tuesday by the House Oversight Committee as part of its long running probe into Epstein and the Epstein files, marking the first time the billionaire has been called on to testify about his relationship with the late financier. The interview will take place behind closed doors, but a transcript is expected to be released shortly afterwards.
Walker, Epstein And Gates: What They Say In Email Records
Walker, now a professor at the University of Washington’s medical school, first met Epstein in the 1990s through President Donald Trump at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, according to the Journal. Epstein reportedly encouraged Walker to go to medical school and the two maintained ties, and she would eventually go on to work for the Gates Foundation and later Gates’ private office. Emails in the Epstein files between Epstein and a person believed to be Walker suggest she frequently served as an intermediary between the two men, reportedly briefing Gates on Epstein before the two first met and frequently advising Epstein on how to broker a successful relationship with the famed billionaire. After Gates allegedly stopped speaking to Epstein in 2014, emails and text messages show Walker continued to keep the financier in the loop about Gates, and Epstein would tell her to pass messages along to him. “He is free to call me for inside baseball,” Epstein told Walker in January 2017 before Gates met with officials from the first Trump administration, for instance. Their last exchange about Gates appeared to take place in February 2019, when Epstein told Walker should tell Gates he “owes [Epstein] a call” when she saw him next. Walker later told Epstein she passed that message on to Gates but the billionaire “didn’t say anything,” though he “asked how you were and I said you were doing great and lots of science.”
Walker’s Consensual Relationship With Gates
Epstein and Walker also discussed Walker having a sexual relationship with Gates, which the Journal reports began in 2017. “All you would have to say, is you should know that I’ve told jeffrey everything – everything,” Epstein told Walker to say to Gates ahead of a meeting with him. The context of the meeting, or this message thread, remains unclear, except that Walker said wanted to let Gates know she wasn’t “messing around.” But Walker responded to Epstein by expressing concern Gates would “immediately retaliate against me.” A spokesperson for Gates confirmed to the Journal the billionaire and Walker had a “consensual” relationship that “ended amicably,” but denied any inappropriate behavior by Gates. “Correspondence between Epstein and Walker reveals that Epstein was actively encouraging Walker to pursue a sexual relationship with Gates,” the Gates spokesperson added, also commenting Gates “was not aware of the nature of the relationship between Walker and Epstein, their shared motives, or the details of their history together.” (Gates was married to Melinda French Gates during this time until their divorce, in 2021.)
What Has Bill Gates Said About Epstein?
Gates has denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and has apologized for associating with the late financier. He told employees at a town hall after the Epstein files were released “it was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein” and apologized “to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made.” Gates claimed he “never spent any time with victims, the women around him” and admitted he did not properly vet Epstein’s background after the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution in 2008, telling employees about him turning a blind eye to allegations against Epstein, “Knowing what I know now makes it, you know, a hundred times worse in terms of not only his crimes in the past, but now it’s clear there was ongoing bad behavior.” Gates has also admitted to having affairs that Epstein later found out about, in addition to Walker, though his spokesperson told the Journal the billionaire “has never had an improper relationship with any employee of the Gates Foundation or Gates Ventures, and no complaint alleging otherwise has ever been made.”
Forbes Valuation
Forbes estimates Gates’ net worth at $103.2 billion as of Monday afternoon, making him the 19th richest person in the world.
Further Reading
What We Know About Bill Gates’ Connection To Jeffrey Epstein—As Billionaire Prepares To Testify (Forbes)
