Melinda Gates tapped divorce lawyers in 2019 after Epstein links to husband

[RandySF]

Melinda Gates, the estranged wife of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, reportedly met with divorce lawyers in 2019 following reports of links between her husband and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in prison that year.

Citing sources close to the situation as well as documents it obtained, The Wall Street Journal reported that Melinda Gates began working with lawyers from multiple firms two years ago.

One source as well as a former employee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation told the Journal that one concern Melinda Gates had was Bill Gates’s association with Epstein.

The Journal reported that Melinda Gates and her advisers held several calls in October 2019, around the same time The New York Times released a report detailing the multiple meetings her husband had with Epstein, at one point reportedly staying at his Manhattan townhouse late into the night.

A spokesperson for Bill Gates said at the time that the meetings were to discuss philanthropy and that he regretted ever meeting with Epstein. When reached for comment by the Journal, a representative for Bill Gates told the outlet that he stands by his previous statements regarding Epstein.





https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/552551-melinda-gates-spoke-to-divorce-lawyers-two-years-ago-due-to

[Mike Nelson]

1. Well...

... I'm not convinced being acquainted with Epstein is evidence of anything. The wealthy and famous are always offering their villas and apartments to other wealthy and famous people. Also, planes... and they have photos taken with politicians and celebrities. Of course, it could be that Mrs. Gates knows something else...

[hlthe2b]

10. Yes. I think back to acquaintances and even friends who later turned out to be...

well, unsavory to say the least in their future private lives. I'd not want to be smeared by the association, which is all too easy in some professional or social circles, I'd guess.

I will reserve judgement.

[Hugin]

2. Here we find ourselves...

watching what many predicted happening between the Hates playing out with the Gates.

Did anyone see this coming? I didn't.

[Demobrat]

3. She may have been creeped out by him.

Doesn’t mean she or Bill knew what was going on.

[SunSeeker]

4. Bill Gates says the meetings were to discuss philanthropy?

What philanthropy did Epstein do? Travel costs for school girls like what Matt Gaetz was doing?

[Major Nikon]

5. He was involved extensively with philanthropy

That’s why the Clintons and others associated with him as well. When you operate a large charity foundation, associating with rich people who are large contributors comes with the territory.

[betsuni]

6. +1

[Dorian Gray]

8. Philanthropic Giving is a great cover for a coerced trafficking ring

People don't question people who give millions a year to philanthropic endeavors.

Even if they were previously arrested.

And the charges were an open secret.

[SunSeeker]

9. Epstein's foundation lost its tax exempt status in 2008; it was as big a scam as Trump's foundation.

As the New York Times described in a scathing expose of the foundation — known by various names, but usually called the J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation -- it lost its tax exempt status in 2008, the same year Epstein plead quilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor.  Epstein and Gates first met face to face in 2011, at Mr. Epstein's townhouse on the Upper East Side, three years after all that became known.

The foundation's documents, which were filed with the Virgin Islands Division of Corporations and Trademarks, do not offer details about where the foundation's money came from or ended up. That information would be contained in the public document, Form 990, that charities are required to file each year with the Internal Revenue Service. But there is just one publicly available Form 990 from the foundation — a single-page filing in 2002 — and it does not include any information on grants or donations.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/26/business/jeffrey-epstein-charity.html

And why didn't Bill Gates bring Melinda, the other half of the Bill and Melinda Gates Charitable Foundation, if these meetings were to discuss charitable giving?

[NJCher]

7. Epstein was such a sex addict

That he had to tick that off his to do list several times a day. Maybe he scheduled Ghislaine’s pick for the day early on the date Gates stayed late at his house.

His game was to entice the big fish with sexual depravity and then get them to let him “manage” some funds. No doubt he could talk a good game on scientific matters.

No girl or young woman has made any complaints about Gates.

It probably is just a regrettable encounter but I can certainly see why Melinda might want to distance herself.