Bill Gates

An external review commissioned by the Gates Foundation in 2026 confirmed that between 2011 and 2014, Bill Gates and/or foundation employees met Jeffrey Epstein approximately 30 times, notably to explore a global health philanthropic fund and in connection with the International Peace Institute. Gates knew about Epstein's 2008 conviction, and employees had flagged the reputational risk of the relationship.

State of the evidence

Confirmed

Attribution

Personally implicated

During private testimony before the House Oversight Committee in June 2026, Gates acknowledged extramarital relationships and stated that Epstein had attempted to use information about his affairs, to which Epstein had added falsehoods according to Gates, to pressure him into resuming their contact.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

In 2026, the Wall Street Journal documented the extensive communications and image-building apparatus surrounding Gates's public persona and showed how new disclosures about Epstein and his extramarital relationships conflicted with his carefully constructed philanthropic image. The article notably reported that Gates had acknowledged to foundation employees some personal affairs mentioned in Epstein documents.

State of the evidence

Admitted by the person

Attribution

Direct responsibility

The Gates Foundation became one of the World Health Organization's leading funders, with contributions largely earmarked for specific programmes. Researchers and global health stakeholders argued that its financial weight gave a private actor disproportionate influence over the agenda, particularly polio, vaccines and certain disease-specific priorities, fuelling debate about governance and legitimacy.

State of the evidence

Documented

As Gates became a leading advocate of climate technologies, his frequent use of private jets and Cascade Investment's involvement in a bid for Signature Aviation prompted accusations of hypocrisy. Gates acknowledged that his personal carbon footprint was very high, notably because of his flights.

State of the evidence

Admitted by the person

Attribution

Personally implicated

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), launched with major Gates Foundation support, set ambitious goals to improve the incomes and food security of millions of farmers. An independent evaluation released in 2022 found mixed results and concluded that AGRA had not achieved its flagship target of increasing incomes and food security for nine million smallholders targeted by the strategy under review.

State of the evidence

Documented

Gates acknowledged an extramarital relationship with a Microsoft employee approximately twenty years earlier. On 7 July 2019, the employee reported communications and conduct she regarded as inappropriate to Microsoft. Microsoft instructed an external firm to investigate; the independent report published in 2022 states that the investigation corroborated the reported communications and encounters. Gates acknowledged the reported conduct while maintaining that it was consensual.

State of the evidence

Admitted by the person

Attribution

Personally implicated

Asked in April 2021 about sharing vaccine 'recipes' and changing intellectual property rules, Gates responded negatively and argued that the main bottlenecks were production capacity, knowledge transfer and safety. His position was strongly criticised by access-to-medicines campaigners. A few days later, the Gates Foundation announced support for a narrow intellectual property waiver during the pandemic.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

A New York Times investigation reported that at least six people, including several Cascade Investment employees, had brought complaints about wealth manager Michael Larson to Gates's attention. In 2017, Gates agreed to a payment settling a complaint by a bicycle shop manager associated with a Cascade-owned company; a subsequent external investigation could not substantiate the complaint, and Larson resumed his duties.

Attribution

Command responsibility

A Columbia Journalism Review investigation identified more than 250 million dollars in Gates Foundation grants to media outlets, journalism organisations and content projects. It raised the question of a structural conflict when newsrooms funded by the foundation cover health, education or development, fields in which Gates and the foundation are themselves major actors.

State of the evidence

Reported by the press

Attribution

Direct responsibility

The Gates Foundation's decision to give Narendra Modi its Global Goalkeeper Award for India's sanitation progress prompted a petition with nearly 100,000 signatures and criticism from activists, academics and philanthropists who considered the honour incompatible with controversies surrounding human rights in India and Kashmir.

State of the evidence

Documented

The Gates Foundation designed and funded the 'Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching' initiative, intended to improve teaching through new effectiveness measures, evaluations and human resources policies. The final RAND/AIR evaluation concluded that, despite substantial resources, the programme had generally failed to meet its educational achievement and graduation objectives, particularly for disadvantaged and minority pupils.

State of the evidence

Documented

In 2017, India transferred part of a technical immunisation support unit previously backed by the Gates Foundation to public funding. A senior Health Ministry official explained that the decision was partly motivated by the perception that external funding could create influence over vaccination policy.

State of the evidence

Documented

The Gates Foundation funded development and promotion of the Common Core State Standards and political, union and educational organisations supporting their adoption. The Washington Post estimated funding at over 200 million dollars and described Gates as the de facto organiser of a national movement, prompting controversy over a private fortune's influence on public education policies.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

The Gates Foundation's agricultural strategy in Africa was criticised for favouring research institutions, technologies and organisations based in the United States and Europe. An analysis published in 2014 estimated that approximately 75% of certain agricultural NGO grants went to US organisations, while Africa-based groups received only a small proportion, fuelling criticism of an excessively top-down, technology-focused model.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

In his memoirs, Paul Allen alleged that in 1982, while suffering from Hodgkin lymphoma, he overheard Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer discussing a mechanism that could dilute his shareholding in Microsoft. Allen described the episode as one factor precipitating his departure from the company.

State of the evidence

Alleged

Attribution

Directly implicated

After investing more than 2 billion dollars in creating or transforming high schools, the Gates Foundation found that many small schools had not significantly improved educational outcomes. In 2008 and 2009, Gates himself publicly acknowledged the disappointing results and the difficulty of replicating the few highly successful models at scale.

State of the evidence

Admitted by the person

Attribution

Directly implicated

The European Commission concluded that Microsoft had abused its dominant position by withholding certain interoperability information and tying Windows to Windows Media Player. In 2004, it imposed a fine of 497,196,304 euros and remedies; subsequent European litigation largely upheld its analysis. Gates was Microsoft's chairman and had served as CEO until 2000, subsequently becoming chief software architect.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Person targeted by the proceedings

Microsoft

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

A Los Angeles Times investigation found that billions of dollars from the Gates Foundation's endowment were invested in companies criticised for pollution, labour practices, medicine prices or activities potentially at odds with the foundation's philanthropic objectives. It estimated that at least 8.7 billion dollars, or 41% of the examined assets excluding government securities, fell into this category.

Attribution

Direct responsibility

The US Department of Justice and several states sued Microsoft in 1998 over practices intended to protect its Windows monopoly and neutralise browser-related threats, notably Netscape. The court's findings directly linked several strategic decisions and emails to Bill Gates. The Court of Appeals upheld a central part of liability for unlawful monopoly maintenance, and the case ended in a final judgement imposing behavioural restrictions.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

During the antitrust proceedings, video excerpts from Gates's sworn deposition showed numerous answers disputing the meaning of ordinary terms or invoking lack of memory. Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson stated that Gates had in many respects been less than 'particularly responsive' to questions, making his deposition a widely discussed episode of the trial.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Accounts by former colleagues and Paul Allen described Microsoft's early years as a highly pressured environment in which Gates provoked confrontations, could harshly disparage ideas and closely monitored employees' working hours. Gates himself acknowledged memorising car number plates to see when employees arrived and left.

State of the evidence

Admitted by the person

Attribution

Direct responsibility

While living in New Mexico during Microsoft's early years, Bill Gates was arrested several times for traffic offences. His Albuquerque arrest photograph of 13 December 1977 became famous; articles in 1998 recalled several arrests relating to his driving in the 1970s.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

In his open letter of 3 February 1976 to computing enthusiasts, Bill Gates denounced the widespread copying of Altair BASIC without payment and argued that it discouraged investment in software development. Published in the Homebrew Computer Club Newsletter and elsewhere, the letter sparked a lasting dispute between the sharing culture of early microcomputer enthusiasts and the emerging commercial model based on proprietary software.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated