It has been over six years since disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein died in a prison cell, reportedly by suicide. However, every day, new revelations are coming forward, exposing his vast network and circle and shedding light on his work.
According to a Fortune report, Epstein financially supported Microsoft founder Bill Gates' reported ex-girlfriend for years. The development comes after the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released over three million pages in what it called the last tranche of the Epstein files.
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Epstein bankrolled Gates' reported ex-girlfriend In an email dated 30 April, 2018, which Epstein sent to Bill Gates' chief of staff, Larry Cohen, the convicted sex offender wrote that he had just put Mila Antonova up in one of his Upper East Side apartments for the week. Antonova, a Russian bridge player, told Fortune through her attorney that she had a “relationship” with Gates around 2010. She has also been described elsewhere as his mistress. Over the years, Epstein provided her with financial support, and he wanted Gates to know about it.
According to the report, Epstein had wanted Gates to know about this for a long time. DOJ documents released in January show that between 2013 and 2018, the convicted sex offender helped organise Antonova's visa, sent her money, accommodated her repeatedly at several of his apartments in Manhattan, and also paid for her coding lessons. However, later, Epstein referred to those payments and asked Gates to reimburse him.
"Sanctity of friendship" In one of the emails sent to Cohen, Epstein invoked the "sanctity of friendship," and added, "If you can help push this out three years that should be enough," a reference, Epstein said, to housing and bankrolling Antonova after her relationship with Gates ended. Three years had now passed, Epstein wrote. He had “paid for school, helped organize visa,” and Antonova had “to stop bridge tournaments, living day to day on a friend's couch with no air con.” The three-year reference made by Epstein was reportedly Gates' own words.
The report suggests that five months before Epstein died, he was still emailing Gates, asking to be repaid.
In several emails in the years after that, Epstein corresponded with Cohen and Boris Nikolic, then-Gates’ chief science adviser at the Gates Foundation and at his investment firm, BGC3. Despite Gates and Epstein's communication ending in 2014, according to DOJ documents, the convicted sex offender used Nikolic and Cohen to let Gates know that he had not been paid and that he helped Mila Antonova in her admission to “computer school.”
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This was dragged till January 2019, when Epstein emailed Gates directly, mentioning the payments he made, and added that he felt "awkward in asking".
Antonova-Epstein ties Antonova, through her lawyer, said that she did not know of Epstein's efforts to pressure Gates, adding that she did not provide any services, information, or any other assurance or act in exchange for his support. Her lawyer said that she "naively accepted" Epstein's help, believing he genuinely wanted to help her.
Antonova's lawyer confirmed that Epstein did make "several unsolicited monetary gifts" and paid for her coding education, adding that he also allowed her to use his apartment many times between 2014 and 2018. The lawyer, however, said that Antonova only met Epstein twice in person and that he was never present during her stays.