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What evidence links Bill Gates to Jeffrey Epstein and visits to Epstein's properties?
Executive summary
Reporting shows documented contact between Bill Gates and Jeffrey Epstein beginning around 2011, including meetings and calendar entries; flight logs and multiple fact-checks, however, find no evidence Gates visited Epstein’s private island and show he flew on Epstein’s plane only once [1] [2] [3]. Newly released Epstein documents and text messages add detail about Epstein trying to court Gates through an intermediary, but available sources do not show that Gates was ever accused of criminal wrongdoing tied to Epstein’s abuses [4] [5] [2].
1. Meetings and calendars: what the documents actually record
The New York Times and other reporting established that Gates met with Epstein “many times” beginning in 2011 and that Gates and staff from Gates’s philanthropy visited Epstein’s Manhattan home and met in Florida; Epstein’s appointment calendar released by Congress similarly lists scheduled meetings with Bill Gates [1] [4] [6]. Those entries and interviews form the core documentary evidence of a relationship that Gates later called a mistake [1] [7].
2. Text messages: Epstein’s effort to position himself as a conduit
A tranche of texts and documents made public in 2025 show Epstein attempting to present himself as an informal link between the Trump White House and Gates, communicating with an adviser identified as Melanie Walker and being told in one exchange that “he loves you” and “he says hi,” referring to Gates [8] [4]. CBS and Newsweek summarized those messages as evidence Epstein tried to court Gates even after Epstein’s prior conviction [4] [5].
3. Flight logs and the island question: repeated fact checks find no visits
Multiple fact‑checks and reporting that reviewed subpoenaed flight logs conclude there is no evidence Gates ever traveled to Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands; the flight records show Gates flew on Epstein’s plane once, on a March 2013 trip from New Jersey to Florida, not to Little St. James [2] [3] [9]. Claims that Gates visited the island dozens of times have been repeatedly debunked [10] [11].
4. What Gates has said and how others have described his ties
Gates has acknowledged meeting Epstein and later described spending time with him as a “huge mistake,” telling outlets he sought philanthropic conversations; Melinda French Gates has said his meetings with Epstein were a factor in their divorce [7] [5] [12]. A Gates spokesperson has denied that Epstein directed Gates’s philanthropic grantmaking, and his team has declined to answer some detailed questions in prior reporting [13] [14].
5. Contradictions, unresolved details, and limits of the record
Investigations and released schedules show meetings and at least one plane trip, but they leave unanswered questions about the full extent of contact (how many private dinners, which Gates staff visited, and precise dates). Rolling Stone and Vice note that Gates’s team has sometimes provided limited detail, which fuels uncertainty; similarly, newly released documents add texture but do not prove visits to Epstein’s island [15] [13] [6].
6. Common misinformation and how it’s been rebutted
Persistent viral claims that Gates visited Epstein’s island many times or was transported there 17–37 times have been fact-checked and labeled false: Reuters, Newsweek, Poynter, PolitiFact and others conclude the records do not support those claims and that Gates’ presence on Epstein’s plane is documented only once [9] [3] [2] [11]. When a claim is not backed by flight logs or contemporaneous scheduling entries, available reporting treats it as unsubstantiated [1] [16].
7. How journalists and fact‑checkers weigh the evidence
News organizations present a two‑part narrative: [17] factual documentation of meetings, calendars and messages showing Epstein courted Gates and [18] firm debunking of island‑visit allegations based on flight logs and subpoenaed records. Reporters emphasize Gates’s admitted regret while also pointing out gaps where he or his team have not provided full clarity [4] [2] [7] [13].
8. Bottom line for readers seeking clarity
Available public records show Bill Gates met with Jeffrey Epstein on multiple occasions and that Epstein attempted to court Gates via intermediaries [1] [4]. Multiple independent fact‑checks and flight records, however, disprove widely circulated claims that Gates visited Epstein’s private Caribbean island multiple times; evidence supports at most a single documented flight on Epstein’s plane and no verified island trips [2] [3] [9]. Available sources do not mention any criminal accusation against Gates related to Epstein’s abuses [4] [1].