Times article Melinda Gates had concerns about Bill’s friendship with Epstein.

[PurpleWh1teGreen]

For some reason I can’t get the share token email link to open but if anyone else has a subscription the article is here.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/melinda-gates-had-been-planning-divorce-from-bill-for-years-5mtrxldqv

Wow. That’s not what amicable looks like to me.

I wonder whether Melinda Gates will follow Mackenzie Scott's (formerly Bezos) example of donating billions of dollars to social justice causes.

I don't have a Times subscription, but the Mail is running with the story as well

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9552613/Melinda-Gates-warned-Bill-association-Jeffrey-Epstein.html

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9559759/Melinda-Gates-consulting-divorce-lawyers-Oct-2019.html

The more I read, the more I like Melinda.

@nauticant

I wonder whether Melinda Gates will follow Mackenzie Scott's (formerly Bezos) example of donating billions of dollars to social justice causes.

I hope so.

Holy crap. This is not at all how I imagined this story would go.

Share token for the times

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/melinda-gates-had-been-planning-divorce-from-bill-for-years-5mtrxldqv?shareToken=6cc355aefd9576c2bcc6e1967a006447

Wow that is quite a statement, and likely to blow the amicable line out of the water.....that is a very damaging.....would like to see the response. If it is true, she is a woman of great courage and integrity.

The paper also reported that Mrs Gates was unhappy about her husband’s dealings with Epstein, the late financier whom she considered to be an inappropriate associate.

The newspaper said a source claimed that the Microsoft founder and Epstein came to know each other in 2011. Her meetings with divorce lawyers coincided with a New York Times story published in 2019 that detailed several meetings between the two men.

The newspaper reported that the 65-year-old software developer stayed late into the night at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse. Bridgitt Arnold, a spokeswoman for Mr Gates, said in 2019 that he had met Epstein several times to discuss philanthropy. “Bill Gates regrets ever meeting with Epstein and recognises it was an error in judgment to do so,” she said.

Is this where we stretch the meaning and description of philanthropy?

Hmmm. So basically it boils down to "we the press are pissed off that the Gates' won't spill the beans on their divorce, there is no sign of any juicy headlines or acrimonious fights, so we will dredge up some anonymous source to suggest something not in evidence in order to sell some news space".

There is no actual evidence that Melinda has anything to do with this non-story, but in all honesty, if she does, then I would say that it says something about her if she hung around for seven or so years with a man that it is being suggested was possibly a participant in Epstein's crimes. Without saying so directly of course, because Bill Gates could bring them all crashing to their knees if he had a mind to.

@Youarecountingonme

Wow that is quite a statement, and likely to blow the amicable line out of the water.....that is a very damaging.....would like to see the response. If it is true, she is a woman of great courage and integrity.

Not if she waited 7+ years to blow the whistle.

It depends how much she knew moon the Epstein connection and imprisonment is quite recent.

Hmm. There isn’t any suggestion that BG was in any way personally implicated in Epstein’s crimes, but he should still have known better than to associate with a convicted sex-trafficker, even in the virtuous pursuit of wealthy donors to save the world.

What shocks me actually is that this story has escaped from MG’s previous lawyers. If it came from a current or former employee then they need to feel the wrath of god, because leaking the personal details of someone’s divorce proceedings is absolutely not on. If it’s Melinda who leaked it then that’s disappointing.

Who knows. The story suggests she first approached lawyers in 2019, in the month when the Gates Epstein links first became public. Perhaps he was not open with her either. They also waited until their youngest finished school.

They are sufficiently well off that there was no need to divorce unless one or other wanted to remarry, or remaining married was intolerable. It’s beginning to sound like the latter. But then who knows how other people’s relationships work.

I'm not seeing any connection here between the divorce and the stuff with Epstein.

It sounds like Gates met with him a number of times, to try and get him involved in charitable donations, but there's nothing to suggest he was ever let into the sexual stuff. I can't quite picture him taking his wife to that kind of thing, and that seems to have ben their last meeting.

Seems like a non-story to take advantage of the fact they aren't airing their personal stuff.

The stories about Epstein have been out there for years. I find it hard to believe that all those people who travelled on the Lolita Express or stayed on his infamous island or in his New York townhouse hadn't at least heard of his proclivities, if not partaking in them as well. There's a list of them somewhere. If the Average Joe with an internet connect knew all this stuff, why didn't they?

In 2011 when BG had meetings with Epstein they weren’t just rumours, he’d served a year in prison in 2008 for procuring an underaged girl for prostitution. That’s what’s done the damage with Prince Andrew, that he continued to hang out with Epstein socially after this conviction. BG claims that he only met JE in all-male meetings for fund-raising purposes, which is very different, though he should still have steered clear.

I don't buy that Bill Gates was there for charity reasons, why would he be? He doesn't need to crowd fund charities, and is funding most of them single handedly. And if he was there for innocent reasons why would Melinda bring it up with her lawyers that she was 'uncomfortable' with his visits there.
Why would anyone have anything to do with Epstein, anyone that cared about their reputation? The visits didn't happen decades ago, they happened just a few years ago. The last one being in 2019 according to the lawyers.

The public way Melinda is distancing herself from Gates, and in the way that she is doing it makes you wonder where this is going to lead. Perhaps there already is a police investigation under way?

I assume newspapers are going to be very very careful that they have receipts for anything they print.

What we are seeing is smoke. Let's see if there is a fire. Interesting how the Mail story progressed in three days following the detail in the Wall Street Journal article.

@Needmoresleep

I assume newspapers are going to be very very careful that they have receipts for anything they print.

What we are seeing is smoke. Let's see if there is a fire. Interesting how the Mail story progressed in three days following the detail in the Wall Street Journal article.

Both the Times & DM stories appear to be carefully written. We are told:

1. BG met JE - undisputed
2. MG was unhappy that BG met JE - almost certain to be true, given JE's reputation for being an arsehole. We are not told that she was unhappy because of his prior conviction (though that's clearly what we are supposed to infer).
3. MG has been considering divorce for several years - true of almost everyone who initiates a divorce.

Everything else is innuendo. BG has admitted that meeting JE was an error of judgement, so he can't sue a journalist for implying the same.

Well I read somewhere that he would hire strippers to come and party nude back at his house before he got married. That is not the behaviour of a decent man imo.

Yes. More smoke.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9550869/Bill-Gates-biographer-lifts-lid-Microsoft-founders-wild-bachelor-days.html

Maybe there is a real story behind it all. Maybe it is just gossip and speculation. Maybe we will never know.