Bill Gates is hitting back against an upcoming book’s claims that Jeffrey Epstein used him to rehabilitate his image after being jailed for procuring underaged girls in 2008.
Written by New York Times finance editor Anupreeta Das, the unauthorized biography, Billionaire, Nerd, Savior, King: Bill Gates and His Quest to Shape Our World, alleges that the Epstein and Gates became fast friends when Epstein began to “tunnel his way into Gates’s orbit,” according to the Daily Mail.
While working on a philanthropy project together, Gates is said to have referred to Epstein as his “buddy” and called spending time with him an “adventure.”
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Gates then reportedly became a part of Epstein’s stable of powerful friends, which included Donald Trump, Britain’s Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton, Das’ book claims, reported Daily Mail.
“Of all the stars that studded Epstein's dark universe, Gates was the brightest,” Das writes, according to Daily Mail. The book is set to be released Aug. 13.
However, in a statement, Gates accused Das of relying “almost exclusively on second and third-hand hearsay and anonymous sources.”
Gates said 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 statement added, “Mr. Gates has previously stated his deep regret for ever meeting with Epstein, who he met with for discussions regarding philanthropy only.”
Das claims to have drawn from “hundreds of interviews with current and former employees of the Gates Foundation, Microsoft, academics, nonprofits, and those with insight into the Gates universe” in researching the book.
She said she “delves into Gates’s relationships with Warren Buffett, Jeffrey Epstein, Melinda French Gates, and others, to uncover the truths behind the public persona.”
Gates’ ex-wife Melinda French Gates reportedly met Epstein only once and told her then husband that she considered the late financier to be “evil personified.”
