With questions resurfacing over his past links to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will no longer deliver the keynote address he was scheduled to give at the India AI Impact Summit.
While the foundation did not specify a reason, the decision comes after organisers reportedly expressed discomfort over Gates taking the stage following the appearance of his name in Epstein-related documents. The foundation said Gates opted out to ensure the focus of the summit remains on its core priorities.
“The Gates Foundation will be represented by Ankur Vora, President of Africa and India Offices, who will speak later today at the Summit,” it said in a post on X. “After careful consideration, and to ensure the focus remains on the AI Summit’s key priorities, Mr. Gates will not be delivering his keynote address.” It added that the foundation remains fully committed to advancing shared health and development goals in India.
Although Gates has not been accused of wrongdoing by any of Epstein’s victims, records released earlier this year by the US Department of Justice include an allegation by Epstein that Gates had contracted a sexually transmitted disease. Gates’s spokesperson has previously described the claim as “absolutely absurd.”
Gates arrived in India on Monday for a series of technology and development engagements. His first stop was Vijayawada, where he met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan, and other senior state officials. He was received at Vijayawada International Airport by ministers Nara Lokesh, Vangalapudi Anitha, K. Atchannaidu, and Y. Satya Kumar.
His visit has coincided with renewed global scrutiny following the Justice Department’s release of millions of pages of material detailing Epstein’s communications with political, business, and academic figures worldwide, including individuals based in India.
The files reportedly reference communications between Epstein and the Gates Foundation. The foundation has maintained that it never made financial payments to Epstein and that any past interactions were professional, limited in scope, and, in hindsight, regrettable.
Gates had been listed among the tech leaders, policymakers, and industry figures speaking at the summit. As recently as Tuesday morning, he was scheduled to deliver a 12-minute keynote at 11:50 am on February 19 at Bharat Mandapam. However, his name was later removed from the official speakers’ list.
There has been much criticism about Gates’ inclusion in the summit though he has declared that he “regrets every moment” he spent with Epstein.
Epstein sent two emails to himself in July 2013, but it remains unclear whether these emails were ever actually sent.
In the first email, Epstein writes: “In my role as his right hand, I had been asked on multiple occasions and was wrongly acquiesced into participating in things that have ranged from the morally inappropriate, to the ethically unsound and had been repeatedly asked to do other things that get near and potentially over the line into the illegal.”
The email continues: “From helping Bill to get drugs, in order to deal with consequences of sex with russian girls, to facilitating his illicit trysts, with married women, to being asked to provide adderall for bridge tournaments, as I am a medical doctor, but have no prescriptions writing ability.”
On the same day, Epstein wrote himself an even longer message: “… you (bill gates) then subsequently, with tears in your eyes, implore me to please delete the emails regarding your std, your request that I provide you antibiotics that you can surreptitiously give to Melinda …” Gates and Melinda French Gates divorced in 2021.
These emails appear to suggest that Epstein helped arrange extramarital relationships and sexual encounters for Gates, and he obtained antibiotics for Gates’ STD, allegedly intended to be given to Melinda without her knowledge.
Gates was reportedly investigated by Microsoft’s board in 2019 after he allegedly attempted to begin an intimate relationship with an employee in 2000. He resigned from the board the following year.
Some reports suggest that Epstein may have drafted the emails on behalf of Boris Nikolic, Gates’ former science adviser. Forbes reported that the timing of the emails coincided with Nikolic’s communications with Epstein related to Gates Foundation work. In an interview with 9News, Gates rejected Epstein’s claims. “That email was never sent. The email is false. I don't know what his thinking was there. Was he trying to attack me in some way? Every minute I spent with him, I regret, and I apologise that I did that,” Gates said.
Melinda told the Wildcard with Rachel Martin podcast: “It’s hard whenever those details come up because it brings back memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage.” She added that she is grateful to now be away “from all the muck”.
Gates had planned to meet Epstein in 2010 but cancelled due to scheduling issues. “I was looking forward to the dinner,” Gates wrote.
Between 2005 and 2007, Epstein was accused of sexually abusing several underage girls. The first survivor to speak publicly was 14 years old. Gates has said he first met Epstein in 2011, years after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for sexual offences.
Another email, dated December 2011, contains the line: “Oct. 23rd Bill Gates late.,, mid october washington..Boris, Regina, Jan 12 after jpm, gates to island (sic).” The message was written by Epstein, but the recipient’s identity has been redacted.
Photographs in the Epstein files show Gates with several unidentified women, their faces redacted in the released images. Separate photographs made public from Epstein’s estate show Gates alongside Prince Andrew, who has faced sexual assault allegations from at least two survivors and was later stripped of his royal titles. He is the brother of King Charles III.
In another image, Gates appears with Larry Visoski, Epstein’s longtime pilot of three decades. Epstein’s private Boeing 727 later became widely known as the “Lolita Express”, a name linked to allegations that the aircraft was used to transport underage girls. The nickname references Lolita, the 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov about the sexual exploitation of a 12-year-old girl.
Bill Gates has denied ever visiting Little St. James, the private Caribbean island owned by Jeffrey Epstein where minors were trafficked and abused. However, a December 2014 email shows Epstein sending Gates a set of proposals and again inviting him to visit “the island”.
