Convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein allegedly attempted to blackmail Bill Gates over the Microsoft co-founder's extramarital affair with a Russian bridge player, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
Sources familiar with the matter told the Journal that after Epstein discovered Gates's relationship with Mila Antonova, he threatened to expose it unless Gates reimbursed him for tuition costs Epstein had covered for Antonova to attend software coding school. The threat came in a 2017 email, after Epstein failed to convince Gates to join a multibillion-dollar charity fund he was trying to set up.
Gates met Antonova, then in her 20s, around 2010 through bridge. In 2013, Antonova sought $500,000 from Epstein for an online bridge tutorial business, but he did not invest. However, he later paid for her coding school fees directly. Antonova said she did not know why he did that, stating, 'Nothing was exchanged.'
Epstein was attempting to establish a charitable fund with JP Morgan, requiring minimum $100m contributions from ultra-wealthy individuals and paying him millions in fees. The fund was contingent on Gates's support, and Epstein emailed JP Morgan executives portraying himself as a close Gates adviser, despite Gates not being included in the emails. A JP Morgan spokesperson said, 'Knowing what we know today, we wish we had never done business with him.'
A Gates spokesperson has said Epstein never worked for Gates and misrepresented their ties. In 2017, Epstein emailed Gates about Antonova after the affair ended, demanding reimbursement. The tone of the email was threatening, sources said.
