Microsoft founder Bill Gates has caused a stir over his response to a question about his relationship with disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The 67-year-old had been appearing on the Australian current affairs show 7:30 on Monday (January 30) when he had been asked by journalist Sarah Ferguson whether he harbored any regrets over his friendship with the late Epstein.
His response to the question was surprising for many viewers, especially given the severity of Epstein's alleged crimes - which included claims of sexual assault against minors and sex trafficking charges.
"You're going way back in time," Gates replied to Ferguson's comment. "But I will say for the over a hundredth time that, yeah, I shouldn't have had dinners with him."
Ferguson then made a point of highlighting how he'd apparently stayed in contact with Epstein despite the wishes of his ex-wife Melinda Gates. The father-of-three was questioned whether his then-wife had been warning him about Epstein's "way of sexually compromising people."
"No. I had dinner with him, and that's all," Gates replied.
Epstein was a powerful financier who died by apparent suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking and conspiracy charges, Fortune has detailed. Some of those crimes include paying children under the age of 18 to perform sex acts. He also served 13 months of an 18-month prison sentence between 2008 and 2009 for soliciting a minor - who was 14 - for prostitution.
That same year, The New York Times conducted an investigation that found Gates had met with Epstein several times, even after the latter had served his prison sentence. Three of those meetings reportedly took place in Epstein's townhouse in Manhattan, New York.
Gates elaborated on this to CNN in 2021, stating: "I had several dinners with him, you know, hoping that what he said about getting billions of philanthropy for global health through contacts that he had might emerge. When it looked like that wasn't a real thing, that relationship ended.
"It was a huge mistake to spend time with him, to give him the credibility of being there," he added.
In 2022, Gates' ex-wife Melinda told CBS that her husband's relationship with Epstein had caused strain within their marriage, telling the outlet during an interview that she "did not like that he'd had [those] meetings."
"I made that clear to him," she added. "[Epstein] was abhorrent, he was evil personified."
Following Gates' recent interview, Twitter was flooded with comments criticizing his response.
One alleged that Gates' business links to Epstein may have started earlier, writing: "Can Bill Gates explain why MSM articles from 2001 state that Epstein made his millions because of his 'business links' to Bill Gates? Why don't people ask Gates about his provable links to Ghislaine Maxwell's family in the 90s? Or Melanie Walker?"
Another wrote: "#BillGates always gets fidgety when asked about Epstein."
One commented on Gates allegedly downplaying his friendship with the financier, adding: "Bill Gates: 'There was no relationship.' Melinda Gates: 'I divorced Bill because of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.'"