Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates is set to undergo a private transcribed interview on Wednesday with the House Oversight Committee regarding his ties to the deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Gates, who has not faced public accusations of misconduct from any of Epstein survivors, is referenced more than 3,000 times in the Justice Department documents.

Ahead of the session, Gates informed reporters that he hoped his statements would aid the committee efforts to deliver justice for the victims.

Watch the clip in the player above.

In a February discussion with 9 News Australia, Gates confirmed he first met the disgraced financier in 2011 and maintained contact for three years. Epstein had already faced indictment, arrest, a guilty plea and jail time for soliciting prostitution from a minor by the time their initial encounter occurred.

Powerful individuals from politics, finance, entertainment and other sectors appear in the Epstein documents released by the Justice Department. Mere mention in the materials does not imply misconduct, yet the disclosures have prompted notable resignations and demands for greater responsibility.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Gates hired attorney Jake Greenberg, a former chief investigations counsel for the House Oversight Committee who led the Epstein inquiry, to assist with preparation.

Gates voluntary appearance forms part of the committee probe into how federal authorities managed cases involving Epstein and his former associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

Additional prominent individuals who have testified include former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, former Attorney General Pam Bondi, two former Epstein assistants and a prison guard on duty the night before the financier death in his cell.

Why does the committee want to talk to Gates?

Mentions of Gates in the Justice Department Epstein files describe planned meetings between the pair and exchanges concerning philanthropy. Images released by House committee Democrats depict Gates alongside Epstein pilot Lawrence Visoski, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor the former British prince, and women whose faces have been blurred.

Bill Gates appears with a woman, whose identity has been obscured, in this image from the Epstein estate released by House Oversight Committee Democrats in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 18, 2025. House Oversight Committee Democrats/Handout via Reuters

According to The Wall Street Journal, Gates informed his team that the women shown were Epstein assistants and that he avoided contact with Epstein victims.

Two 2013 emails included in the records were sent by Epstein to himself. At least one reads as a draft resignation note from Boris Nikolic, an adviser to Gates, at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Nikolic, a physician and biotech investor, maintained a friendship with Epstein. The late financier listed Nikolic as a backup executor in his will. Nikolic name surfaces more than 14,000 times in the Justice Department records.

The second email, addressed dear bill, adopts a sharper tone and criticizes the recipient for neglecting their friendship. The messages portray Gates as having engaged in extramarital relationships and mention an std, along with a request for Nikolic to obtain antibiotics so Gates could discreetly provide them to then-wife Melinda French Gates.

Bill Gates told 9 News Australia that the assertions were untrue. The Wall Street Journal noted he acknowledged to his staff having relationships with two Russian women, while clarifying that Epstein survivors were not involved.

French Gates told NPR in February that learning of her ex-husband communications with Epstein proved personally difficult as it recalled painful periods in their marriage.

She noted that further inquiries about Bill Gates relationship with Epstein and his affairs should be directed to him.

In 2022, French Gates told CBS News that she did not approve of Gates meetings with Epstein.

She said she encountered Epstein once.

I regretted it from the second I stepped in the door. He was abhorrent. He was evil personified. I had nightmares about it afterward, French Gates said.

After the Justice Department files became public, the Gates Foundation stated this spring that it had commissioned an external review to evaluate past foundation interactions with Epstein.

What has Gates said about his connections to Epstein?

Gates has voiced regret over his association with Epstein and emphasized that none of their meetings included illegal conduct.

In a 2021 PBS News interview, Gates expressed remorse for dining with Epstein.

He had relationships with people he said would give to global health, which is an interest I have. Not nearly enough philanthropy goes in that direction, Gates said. Those meetings were a mistake. They did not result in what he purported. And I cut them off.

Watch the clip in the player above.

Gates has maintained that he never participated in or witnessed any illicit activity connected to Epstein.

It is factually true that I was only at dinners. I never went to the island, I never met any women, Gates told 9 News Australia in February. I was foolish to spend time with him. I was one of many people who regret ever knowing him.

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