“I had to leave my marriage”: Melinda French Gates hints at Bill Gates’ link to Jeffrey Epstein as the reason for her divorce |

Melinda French Gates (file photo)

Author-philanthropist Melinda French Gates’ voice trembled just a little on the NPR podcast, Wild Card with Rachel Martin, as she faced the elephant in the room. New Jeffrey Epstein files had just dropped, dragging her ex-husband, billionaire, philanthropist, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, back into the spotlight and reopening wounds from her 27-year marriage that ended in a divorce in 2021. “I had to leave my marriage,” Melinda French Gates said in the recent interview, her words heavy with a sadness that’s hard to miss. It’s a raw admission from a woman who’s spent decades building empires of good, now reckoning with betrayal that cut deeper than anyone imagined.

The painful echoes of Epstein’s Files

Picture this: Millions of pages unsealed by the U.S. Justice Department, and there it was – Epstein’s bizarre 2013 emails, masquerading as notes from Bill’s adviser.

“From helping Bill to get drugs, in order to deal with consequences of s** with russian girls, to facilictating his illicit trysts, with married women, to being asked to provide adderall fro bridge toumamnts. as I am a medical doctor, but have no presriptions writing abiltiy,” Epstein wrote in an email to himself (with lots of typos), as per several reports.The email’s pretty confusing since Epstein wasn’t even a real doctor. But that bit about Bill Gates sleeping with “Russian girls” might tie back to a 2023 Wall Street Journal story, which claimed that Jeffrey Epstein tried to blackmail Bill Gates back then over his alleged affair with Mila Antonova, a Russian bridge player in her 20s.In the NPR podcast, when Melinda was asked about her ex-husband being named in the newly released documents from the Epstein Files, Melinda didn’t dive into the mud. Instead, she let her guards down and said, “It’s personally hard whenever those details come up… it brings back memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage.” Her words weren’t accusatory— they were exhausted, grieving. When pressed on the “muck,” including alleged secret meds and affairs, Melinda paused, then said, “(I feel) Sad. Just unbelievable sadness.” It’s the kind of sorrow that lingers, the slow drip of trust that eroded over years.

Bill Gates is one of many influential people mentioned by name in the 3 million newly released pages of Jeffrey Epstein’s personal communications.

A society’s reckoning, a mother’s heartbreak

What hit Melinda hardest wasn’t just how Bill’s association with Epstein affected their marriage, but it was also the girls, the victims. “No girl should ever be put in the situation that they were put in by Epstein,” she said, voice cracking with empathy. She remembered her own youth, her daughters at those tender ages, and further said, “It’s beyond heartbreaking.” Epstein’s web ensnared so many, and now, as survivors step to microphones in D.C., Melinda hopes for justice. It’s a fierce maternal instinct shining through her pain, turning personal loss into quiet advocacy.Meanwhile, Bill Gates has called it all “absolutely absurd and completely false.” His team insists the documents only show Epstein’s spite – no real ties, just a financier’s failed bid for influence. Past reports, like The Wall Street Journal’s on a threatened expose over Russian bridge player Mila Antonova, add layers. Bill’s always framed his Epstein meets as philanthropy-only, despite The New York Times revealing more frequent encounters. Melinda, stepping away from the Gates Foundation last year, seems that she’s done explaining. “Those questions are for those people… and for even my ex-husband. They need to answer to those things, not me,” she said in the NPR interview.

Moving on from the muck

Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates officially got divorced in 2021, after whispers of their strained marriage. But hearing Melinda now, it’s clear Epstein wasn’t the sole villain – more like the final straw in a tapestry of hurt in her marriage. “I wanted to leave my marriage… I felt I needed to eventually leave the foundation. So it’s just sad. That’s the truth.” Yet there’s light: “I’m in a beautiful place in my own life... happy to be away from all the muck,” she added.For the unversed, since their divorce in 2021, both Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates have moved on in their lives. While Bill Gates is currently dating Paula Hurd, Melinda French Gates is said to be dating tech entrepreneur Philip Vaughn.