In 2023, my microphone was cut off and I was arrested at the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders’ meeting with Warren Buffett in the chair after I uttered the name of Jeffrey Epstein while citing the reputational risk to the company posed by Buffett’s close identification with Bill Gates. About half of the Gates Foundation assets have come from Buffett.
It looks like I was onto something.
The latest release of Epstein documents has reignited scrutiny of the convicted sex offender’s connections with Gates. Among the documents are emails drafted by Epstein in 2013, alleging Gates engaged in extramarital affairs with “Russian girls,” contracted a sexually transmitted disease, and sought antibiotics to secretly administer to his then-wife, Melinda French Gates.
Gates has long sought to downplay his relationship with Epstein, but these revelations amplify questions about its depth. Initially, Gates described their meetings—starting around 2011—as focused on philanthropy and global health initiatives. He claimed Epstein’s lifestyle was “intriguing” but insisted interactions were professional, aimed at securing billions for vaccine programs. However, as more details emerged in 2019 and beyond, Gates’ narrative shifted. He admitted the association was a “huge mistake,” expressing regret for dining with Epstein multiple times despite warnings from associates.
In response to the latest release, Gates called his time with Epstein “foolish” and stated, “I was one of many people who regret ever knowing him.” His spokesperson dismissed the STD allegations as “absurd and completely false,” attributing them to Epstein’s bitterness over a failed ongoing relationship. Yet this doesn’t fully address the inconsistencies in Gates’ prior accounts.
Melinda French Gates, who divorced Bill in 2021, reportedly due to his Epstein ties, reacted strongly. In a February 2026 podcast, she described the documents as reopening memories of “very, very painful times in my marriage,” emphasizing unresolved questions about his associations. She urged Gates and others named to “answer for their behavior,” suggesting she doesn’t buy her ex-husband’s latest denials.
In January 2024, I wrote:
Gates is not the only billionaire touched by the Epstein scandal, but he has become the poster child for it, and this is not unfair. Gates had recast himself as a full-time humanitarian so successfully that even Warren Buffett had to jump on board. But when you hold yourself out as humanity’s savior, there’s little room for moral equivocation. People worldwide understand this. That’s why no matter how furiously Gates tries to regain control of his public persona, or how much he spends to do it, he is destined to fail.
This assertion only becomes truer as time passes.
As for my arrest, the laughable charge of criminal trespass was soon after dropped. I have sued Buffett for having me silenced and arrested. A hearing was recently granted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in St. Louis in our effort to overturn a lower federal court’s dismissal of the case by a hometown judge in Omaha. Click here for our most recent brief in the case.
