Epstein hanged himself in a jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges
Jeffrey Epstein reportedly tried to get donations from Bill Gates
Correspondent Molly Line reports the latest from Boston.
Microsoft mogul Bill Gates was drawn to late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein largely because he thought he could help him secure a Nobel Peace Prize, according to a new book.
Author Anupreeta Das, finance editor at the New York Times, wrote in "Billionaire, Nerd, Savior, King: Bill Gates and His Quest to Shape Our World," that the tech titan had become fixated on landing the award – and thought Epstein could help him do so.
The notorious predator pleaded guilty to procuring underaged girls in 2008, and began to pursue a relationship with Gates in 2010 to help sanitize his own marred image at the time, according to a New York Post report on Das' book.
Epstein relayed to a Gates Foundation staffer that he could help the computer pioneer connect with Nobel influencers.
Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has downplayed his relationship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell - Pool/Getty Images)
Several years later, the pair – along with Norwegian diplomat Terje Rod-Larsen – flew to France to meet with Thorbjorn Jagland, chair of the Nobel committee, Das wrote.
But the 2013 sit-down never got Gates over the line, and Rod-Larsen was later forced to resign from the International Peace Institute in 2020 due to his ties to Epstein.
Gates called the time he spent with Epstein a "huge mistake" in an interview with CNN in 2021.
A Gates spokesperson blasted portions of the book in a statement to The Post.
"The book includes highly sensationalized allegations and outright falsehoods that ignore the actual documented facts our office provided to the author on numerous occasions," the publicist said.
BILL AND MELINDA GATES ARE OFFICIALLY DIVORCED
In this Feb. 1, 2019, file photo, Bill and Melinda Gates smile at each other during an interview in Kirkland, Wash. The pair later divorced. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
A representative for Gates, 68, told media outlets that he regretted his associations with Epstein, and that their links were limited to philanthropy rather than philandering.
Gates' ex-wife, Melinda Gates, has said she was wary of his interactions with the infamous womanizer and met him personally on one occasion.
She told Gayle King in an interview in 2021 that Epstein was "evil personified."
The unauthorized biography also reported that Gates was routinely flirty with female underlings during his time at Microsoft.
The company's former boss would "flirt with women and pursue them, making unwanted advances such as asking a Microsoft employee out to dinner while he was still the company’s chairman," Das wrote.
JEFFREY EPSTEIN LIST: COURT UNSEALS NAMES IN GHISLAINE MAXWELL LAWSUIT
Jeffrey Epstein hanged himself in a jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. (Rick Friedman/Rick Friedman Photography/Corbis via Getty Images)
An executive told the author that Gates was often clumsy with women, but said that he was no "Harvey Weinstein."
"I know of no real situation in which anyone got anything for sleeping with Bill," the source said, according to The Post.
But those workplace temptations compelled managers to bar them from spending time with the billionaire without others present.
Epstein hanged himself in a jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Rebecca Rosenberg is a veteran journalist and book author with a focus on crime and criminal justice. Email tips to
