Bill Gates' Epstein Nightmare: Vile Sex Predator 'Tried to 'Blackmail' Microsoft Billionaire After Learning of Rumored Affair With a Russian Bridge Player

Jeffrey Epstein is said to have attempted to use his knowledge of Bill Gates' affair with a Russian bridge player as leverage in a business deal, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

Sources familiar with the blackmail attempt claimed Gates, 69, met Mila Antonova around 2010 when she was in her 20s. Epstein was introduced Antonova in 2013 and later covered the cost for her to attend coding school.

Years later in 2017, Epstein reportedly emailed the Microsoft co-founder requesting he be reimbursed for the tuition of Gates' rumored mistress.

Sources said the convicted pedophile's email followed his unsuccessful attempts to persuade Gates to contribute to a multi-billion-dollar charity he was trying to establish with JPMorgan Chase.

A spokesperson for Gates said: "Mr. Gates met with Epstein solely for philanthropic purposes. Having failed repeatedly to draw Mr. Gates beyond these matters, Epstein tried unsuccessfully to leverage a past relationship to threaten Mr. Gates."

While Antonova deflected commenting on Gates, she reportedly claimed to be unaware of who Epstein was when she first met him.

"I had no idea that he was a criminal or had any ulterior motive," she said. I just thought he was a successful businessman and wanted to help.

"I am disgusted with Epstein and what he did."

Epstein's email seemingly threatened to expose Gates' affair while he was still married to his now-ex-wife, Melinda.

Melinda referenced reporting on her ex-husband's relationship with Epstein, whom he was said to have met with on "numerous occasions," including one hour-long visit.

After his first encounter with Epstein in 2011, Gates emailed his colleagues: "His lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing, although it would not work for me."

Gates met Epstein years after the well-connected financier was accused of sexually assaulting minors as young as 14 years old in 2006.

Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution in 2008. He served a short stint in a Florida jail and was required to register as a sex offender, though his lavish lifestyle managed to continue without issue until 2019.

Gates and his wife of over 27-years announced their split in 2021, though some reports claimed Melinda shopped for divorce attorneys as early as 2019.

Melinda appeared to confirm rumors in her post-divorce memoir, The Next Day, in which she detailed feeling uneasy about her marriage in 2019.

She wrote: "That October, things had reached a fever pitch when The New York Times published a deeply disturbing article that raised serious questions about Bill's conduct – questions that suggested he had betrayed not only our marriage but also my values."

Dozens of women came forward and spoke to the Miami Herald about abuse they endured from Epstein.

The bombshell report sparked a federal investigation into Epstein, and he was arrested in 2019 on sex trafficking charges. Months later, while he awaited trial, Epstein's body was discovered in his Manhattan jail cell with a sheet tied around his neck.

His official cause of death was ruled a suicide, though numerous conspiracy theories alleged he was murdered.

As Epstein's high-profile connections, including Gates, became public knowledge, the tech mogul insisted he only met with the late financier to discuss philanthropic efforts and deeply regretted having an association with him, which he called a "mistake."