By The FirstIn an unfolding scandal, it has been revealed that billionaire Jeffrey Epstein attempted to blackmail Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates, over a secret affair with a young Russian bridge player, Mila Antonova. These allegations, according to The Wall Street Journal, come from sources closely tied to the matter.
Gates reportedly met Antonova in 2010 when she was in her 20s, and began a clandestine romance, all while still married to his then-wife, Melinda French Gates. Epstein learned of this affair in 2013, after he had funded Antonova’s education at a software coding school.
The leverage over Gates emerged more openly in 2017, when Epstein, in a bid to establish a multibillion-dollar charitable fund with JPMorgan Chase, attempted to rope in Gates. Through an email, Epstein demanded reimbursement for the coding school fees, insinuating that he could reveal Gates’ affair if he did not maintain their association.
The gambit, however, did not pay off for Epstein, as Gates chose not to partake in the proposed charitable fund.
“Mr. Gates met with Epstein solely for philanthropic purposes. Having failed repeatedly to draw Mr. Gates beyond these matters, Epstein tried unsuccessfully to leverage a past relationship to threaten Mr. Gates,” a spokeswoman for Gates told The Wall Street Journal.
For her part, Mila Antonova, the Russian bridge player, has remained mum on the affair with gates, and has told The Wall Street Journal that she didn’t know who Epstein was when they met. “I had no idea that he was a criminal or had any ulterior motive,” Antonova said. “I just thought he was a successful businessman and wanted to help.”
