A bestselling author has revealedJeffrey Epstein’schilling presence in the marriage of Bill and Melinda French Gates.
In a new column for his Substack,HOWL,Michael Wolffdetailed Epstein’s front-row seat to the unraveling of the then-world’s richest couple and beloved philanthropists—largely because of the presence of the notorious pedophile himself.
“Gates, at the age of 59 in 2014, had two challenges: Turning the Gates Foundation into a transformative global power—not just to give away money, but in order to top himself, to grow and expand it to have as much impact on the world as Microsoft itself. And dealing with, or ridding himself of, his personal domestic nightmare,” Wolff, 72, wrote on Tuesday.
“Or, at least, this is how Epstein came to perceive and portray the situation.”
The Gateses divorced in 2021, two years after Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail. But more than five years before that, according to Wolff, Epstein had a “detailed picture of the marriage’s hellscape.”
“Melinda Gates’ version of the breakup of her marriage puts considerable blame on Epstein—and her abhorrence of her husband’s new friend,” Wolff wrote.
“Epstein’s version of his friendship with Gates, meanwhile, was that it was Gates who so abhorred his wife that he desperately needed a friend he could trust and confide in.”
Allegedly, French Gates took issue with her husband’s budding friendship with Epstein, a sex offender who had already served a criminal sentence for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
“Gates and Epstein, in theirnew relationship, first had to deal with the ‘Melinda problem,’ not just a marital issue but a corporate one,” Wolff wrote.
“Jealous of other influences on her husband, and wary of Epstein’s increasing presence within the foundation, she had focused on Epstein’s ‘Google history.’ That is, the bad stuff that came up in a basic search.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to Gates for comment.
Wolff alleges that Epstein told him the billionaire and the disgraced financier hatched a plan to generate positive press for Epstein so that French Gates would finally accept his presence in her husband’s life.
However, French Gates’ version of events differs. The 61-year-old philanthropist has said she met Epstein only once and immediately sensed that he was “evil.”
“Have you ever in your life been around somebody that you just know is evil?” she tearfully recounted toThe Guardianearlier this month.
“Any woman who has ever been around somebody who is evil or had an experience and then if you’re around somebody else who is evil. Just no, no.”
