Newsmakers

In a stunning disclosure that has sent shockwaves across the world, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates admitted to having at least three extramarital affairs and named the women involved during a closed-door testimony before the US House Oversight Committee on June 10, 2026. The transcript of the voluntary interview, released on June 23, reveals that Gates named three women he had affairs with during his marriage to Melinda French, and claimed that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein learned about the infidelity and tried to "pressure" him to reconnect.

During the June 10 testimony, the Microsoft co-founder identified two Russian women he had relationships with, naming bridge player Mila Antonova and nuclear physicist Karima Nigmatulina.

Under further questioning from US Congressmen during the hours-long session, Gates also admitted to a third extramarital affair — this time with Dr Alice Jacobs Nesselrodt, a medical entrepreneur, whom he said he had met before his association with Epstein began in 2011.

Gates first met Antonova at the North American Bridge Championships in Washington DC in the summer of 2009. Born and raised in Russia, she studied management at the Tolyatti Management Institute, developed a passion for bridge, and later moved to the United States, where she founded a bridge club. Gates revealed that he met Nigmatulina through her work on disease modelling and nuclear fission, during which time she was working for TerraPower, a company in which Gates was an investor.

Gates appeared surprised to learn during the testimony that Epstein had been aware of his affair with Dr Nesselrodt as well, having previously told Congress that Epstein only had knowledge of "the two that we've discussed." Congressmen then showed him an email that Epstein had sent himself in July 2013, which mentioned Dr Nesselrodt in relation to Gates — her name had previously been redacted in published versions of the email shared by the US Justice Department.

The tech billionaire revealed how Epstein had allegedly attempted to weaponise this knowledge. Gates told lawmakers that while Epstein never directly blackmailed him, emails from the disgraced financier strongly suggested he had considered doing so. "He never blackmailed me, but looking at these emails, it raises a serious probability that he contemplated blackmailing me," Gates said.

In his prepared opening statement, Gates said Epstein was "working to use information about my infidelities — in addition to many lies that he layered on top — to pressure me to re-engage with him. He was unsuccessful in this effort, but it shows some of the ways he tried to leverage his interactions with me to further his agenda."

Addressing his broader relationship with the disgraced financier, Gates was categorical. "I never witnessed nor had any indication that Epstein was engaged in ongoing criminal conduct. I never went to his island, his ranch, or his Florida home. I have never victimized anyone," he testified. When asked about his knowledge of Epstein's criminal conduct, Gates said, "I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit," though he agreed he "may have been in the presence of victims" unknowingly.

None of the three women has been accused of any wrongdoing. Gates' association with Epstein has already roiled his nonprofit and reshaped public perception of the philanthropist, and the relationship is cited as one of the key factors behind his divorce from Melinda French Gates in 2021. The Department of Justice has previously stated it found no credible evidence that Epstein blackmailed any prominent individuals.