Microsoft founder Bill Gates publicly admitted to having extramarital affairs, including with a Russian woman named Mila Antonova, and apologized to employees of his charitable foundation for past connections with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Gates made the admissions at a meeting with employees of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He acknowledged the affair with Antonova but stated that he did nothing wrong in relation to Epstein.

The murky connections between Gates and Epstein had been the subject of media investigations even before Epstein's death in 2019. Gates had previously claimed that he met with Epstein exclusively for the purposes of philanthropic initiatives.

Antonova is a Russian national with whom Gates allegedly maintained a relationship that his former wife Melinda Gates did not know about. Their 2021 divorce was linked precisely to Gates' extramarital affairs.

Gates' admission comes at a time when the Epstein case is again attracting attention due to anticipated testimony by Hillary Clinton before the US Congress regarding her alleged connections with the convicted human trafficker.

The Gates Foundation is one of the largest private humanitarian donors in the world, investing billions of dollars in health, education, and poverty reduction. The revelations raise questions about the foundation's reputation and its future funding.