Bill Gates's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, cause of Melinda's divorce, according to 'WSJ'
The philanthropist had conversations with her lawyers in October 2019, when the Microsoft co-founder's ties to the tycoon and pedophile were made public.
The Gates' century divorce has not been a matter of a day, it had been brewing for a long time, and it was being negotiated during the covid-19 pandemic. Melinda Gates had been looking for and consulting lawyers since 2019 to divorce her husband, Bill Gates, although the announcement of the breakup was not disclosed until last week, as published on Monday by the newspaper 'The Wall Street Journal' (WSJ) . The New York newspaper cites "people familiar with the matter" and legal documents consulted by journalists of the newspaper that point out that the divorce was something that came from afar, with the first contacts with lawyers in 2019.
The Gates announced on Monday of last week that they were divorcing, after more than 27 years of relationship in which they founded one of the most important charities in the world. The next day, the US media revealed the content of the documents of the divorce petition, presented by Melinda, in which she assured that the marriage is "irretrievably broken", that "spousal support is not necessary" and that the pact of separation will determine the division of its properties. The Gates have three children, all of them of legal age, who went on a trip with their mother after the divorce was announced.
According to the 'Journal', one of the issues that could have precipitated the breakup is the relationship between Bill and the late disgraced mogul Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in prison precisely in 2019. Epstein had been arrested after he was arrested. accused him of sexually abusing and exploiting dozens of adolescent girls both in his Manhattan mansion (New York) and in his residence in Palm Beach (Florida) and his property in the Virgin Islands.
Meetings on Philanthropy
In light of the documents reviewed by the 'Journal', Melinda and her legal advisers made several calls in October 2019 when 'The New York Times' reported that Bill Gates had met with Jeffrey Epstein on numerous occasions. In one of them, Gates stayed late into the night at Epstein's Manhattan home.
Bridgitt Arnold, a Gates spokesman, said in 2019 that the software mogul and Epstein had met several times to discuss philanthropy. "Bill Gates regrets meeting with Epstein and acknowledges that it was an error in judgment to do so," Arnold explained at the time. Through spokesmen, the billionaire has always regretted "each and every one of his encounters (with Epstein)."
Contacts since 2013
The version of the 'Journal', which quotes a former employee of its foundation, points out that Melinda, a global defender of women and girls, would have already warned her husband that she did not feel comfortable with Epstein in 2013 and despite this Bill Gates and employees of his foundation kept in touch with the now-deceased mogul in the years that followed.
Disagreements
In early 2020, the Gates couple surprised the world when they said they would not attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, an annual gathering of business and world leaders that the powerful couple had attended for years. A few months later, on March 13, Gates announced that he was resigning from the boards of Microsoft and the investment fund Berkshire Hathaway, the company of his friend Warren Buffet. According to his own explanations, he was leaving him to focus more on his philanthropic efforts.
At the time, the Gates were already in discussions to divide their immense wealth, according to people familiar with the matter and the documents. The legal teams of both parties were already in private talks with a mediator to reach a "separation contract," the documents show. Furthermore, the couple reportedly had not signed a prenuptial agreement when they married in 1994.
