Last week, we reported that Bill and Melinda Gates shocked the world when they announced that they are divorcing after 27 years of marriage. Now, it’s been revealed that Melinda was deeply disturbed over the fact that Bill met with the late billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein years ago.
“Epstein is definitely a sore spot. That’s a long time for issues to fester,” an insider told People Magazine.
The New York Times reported in 2019 that Bill had met with Epstein even though the controversial figure had already served jail time for soliciting prostitution for a minor and was registered as a sex offender. Though Bill had told the Wall Street Journal at the time that he “any business relationship or friendship” with Epstein, it was reported by The Times that the two men met multiple times beginning in 2011 to talk about Epstein’s proposal to help raise funds for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This proposal never actually came to fruition, but the meetings did indeed take place.
The source said that anything involving Epstein was “major trauma” for Melinda.
“She was totally opposed to what she considered shady dealings and some other issues he wanted to pursue in the business area,” the source said. “She was not afraid to speak up about it either.”
However, the insider added that the split was ultimately due to a “variety of reasons.”
This comes one week after Bill and Melinda announced that they are divorcing, as their marriage is “irretrievably broken.”
“After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” they said in a statement. “Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives.”
“We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives,” their statement concluded. “We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.”
“I think the whole family wishes this would go away so they can return to their lives — whatever that may be now,” a friend of the family said.
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