Jeffrey Epstein Threatened Bill Gates Over an Alleged Affair Between the Billionaire and a Russian Bridge Player: Report

The email was reportedly sent after Gates refused to participate in a multibillion-dollar charitable fund Epstein allegedly tried to set up with JPMorgan Chase. In the message's wording, the accused human trafficker alluded to revealing the affair between Gates and the young woman if he didn't keep up their "association."

A spokeswoman for the Microsoft co-founder claimed, "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."

Epstein was accused of sexually abusing girls as young as 14 and pleaded guilty to soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution in 2008. He served a short stint in a Florida jail and registered as a sex offender.

After the groundbreaking Miami Herald expose on the convicted sex criminal revealed dozens of more women who said they were abused came out, Epstein was arrested in 2019 on sex trafficking charges. He died in his New York jail cell later that year while awaiting trial. The medical examiner ruled his death a suicide, but many speculate whether or not there's more to the story.

The Russian bridge player, Mila Antonova, said she was unfamiliar with Epstein when they met. "I had no idea that he was a criminal or had any ulterior motive," she told the WSJ. "I just thought he was a successful businessman and wanted to help."

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

She declined to comment on her history or relationship with Gates.