Hours after disgraced Prince Andrew was arrested for his connection to Jeffrey Epstein, Bill Gates has suddenly backed out of a high-profile event as rumors of Gates and his relationship with Epstein continue to swirl.
Gates was scheduled to address the AI Summit in India on behalf of his nonprofit, the Gates Foundation, that he launched with his now ex-wife, according to The New York Times.
However, reports indicate that Gates suddenly pulled out of the speaking gig.
“After careful consideration, and to ensure the focus remains on the AI Summit’s key priorities, Mr. Gates will not be delivering his keynote address. The Gates Foundation will be represented by Ankur Vora, President of Africa and India Offices, who will speak later today at the Summit,” the Gates Foundation said in a statement on Thursday.
— Gates Foundation India (@BMGFIndia) February 19, 2026
“The Gates Foundation remains fully committed to our work in India to advance our shared health and development goals,” it added.
Gates’ relationship was revealed after Epstein died by suicide in his cell in a New York correctional facility in 2019.
The full extent of Gates’ relationship with Epstein, which lasted for years after Epstein’s conviction, is still unknown.
However, recent questions were raised about Gates’ involvement with Epstein in the latest dump of Epstein files released to the public last month.
In the hundreds of thousands of pages of messages and other information, emails that Epstein wrote to himself say that the financier helped Gates acquire medication “in order to deal with consequences of sex with Russian girls.”
The latest files show a 2013 email draft in which Epstein claimed Gates asked him to delete messages about an STD and sought antibiotics to secretly give to then-wife Melinda.
In the July 18, 2013 draft email to himself, Epstein wrote that Gates asked him to “delete the emails regarding your std” and referenced “your request that I provide you antibiotics that you can surreptitiously give to Melinda.”
Gates called himself “foolish” and said that spending any time with Epstein was a “huge mistake.”
“I had dinners with him. I regret doing that,” Gates told PBS NewsHour in September 2021.
Last February, Gates opened up to the Wall Street Journal in a lengthy interview detailing his relationship with Epstein.
Bill Gates: 'Foolish' to spend time with Jeffrey Epstein https://t.co/CsNykUfrky
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 27, 2025
Gates and Epstein had met a handful of times before Epstein’s death in 2019, when Epstein hanged himself in a jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Gates said during the interview that the situation with Epstein made him more wary of his connections.
Gates’ ex-wife, Melinda Gates, has said she was wary of his interactions with Epstein and met him personally on one occasion, according to reports.
She told Gayle King in an interview in 2021 that Epstein was “evil personified.”
Prince Andrew was arrested and held for hours by British police Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his links to Jeffrey Epstein, marking the first high profile arrest of a name connected to the Epstein files.