Bill Gates Says He’s Friends With Melinda, Despite What She Says

In a new interview, Bill Gates paints a more egalitarian portrait of his marriage and ongoing relationship with Melinda French Gates, who requested a harsher interview in March. .

That month, the French Gates told CBS broadcaster Gayle King that although she and Bill were still working together on “friendly” terms, they were so distant that she wouldn’t consider him is you. “That could come over time. But for me, there is still healing that needs to happen,” she said.

Gates seems to see things differently.

In an article published on Sunday, a columnist for the British newspaper Sunday Times Gates asked Gates if the former couple were still friends. “I will say that. In an interview, she chose not to use that word, but I will,” replied the billionaire. “You know, we have a super important, complicated, close relationship that we chose to work together.”

The interview also touched on Gates’ relationship with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, whom the French Gates cited as one of the “many” reasons for their split. As The Daily Beast detailed earlier, he and Epstein have met several times over the years after In 2008, the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor.

During her interview in March, the French Gates passed questions about those interactions to Bill. In Sunday’s article, he said simply about his behavior: “I didn’t realize at the time that holding those meetings would be seen as giving him credibility. that. You’re almost saying, ‘I condone that kind of behavior,’ or something. Obviously from the way it is seen, I made a huge mistake of not understanding that.”

Now, as an empty child and divorced, things are lonely at Gates’ giant Seattle home, Xanadu 2.0. “It feels too big most of the time. I’m just a small person,” he said Sunday Times.

And despite admitting mistakes and “grieving” over the divorce, the world’s fourth-richest man said he ultimately had no regrets. “In my opinion, it was a great marriage. I wouldn’t change it,” he said.