In a series of emails from 2013 that Epstein sent to himself, he appeared to suggest that Gates was having an extramarital affair and seeking illicit drugs. Gates has denied all the claims.

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Bill Gates says he regrets every minute spent with Jeffrey Epstein and that he never went to the island and never met any woman. pic.twitter.com/FhXx5DnP0U

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Bill Gates said that he "regrets every minute" he ever spent with Jeffrey Epstein, speaking out after the release of Epstein files that contained mentions of the Microsoft co-founder.

The billionaire told "Nine News Australia" in an interview posted on Wednesday that it was "foolish" to spend time with the convicted sex offender and that the claims made about him by Epstein in the files were "false."

"Apparently, Jeffrey wrote an email to himself. That email was never sent, the email is false," he said. "So, I don`t know what his thinking was there. Was he trying to attack me in some way?"

"It just reminds me, every minute I spent with him, I regret, and I apologize that I did that," he added.

Gates was one of several of the world`s richest and most prominent men mentioned in the millions of files released by the Justice Department on Friday in connection with Epstein.

The Microsoft co-founder said he met Epstein in 2011, years after Epstein was convicted for sex crimes, and that they had "a number of dinners" together.

He denied ever going to Epstein`s private island.

"The focus was always, he knew a lot of very rich people, and he was saying he could get them to give money to global health," he said. "In retrospect, that was a dead end, and I`ve said many times, but I`ll say again, I was foolish to spend time with him. I was one of many people who regret ever knowing him."

In a series of emails from 2013 that Epstein sent to himself, the late sex offender appeared to suggest that Gates was having an extramarital affair and seeking illicit drugs.

Epstein wrote in an email dated July 18, 2013 that he had decided to resign from a role he had with the Gates Foundation and BG3, a think tank founded by Bill Gates, because he got "caught up in a severe martial dispute between Melinda and Bill."

"I have the greatest respect for my friend of 7 years, and wish them both well," Epstein wrote.

With multiple typos, Epstein wrote of his relationship with Gates: "In my role as his right hand I had been asked on mulitple occassion and in hindsight , wrongly acquiesced into participating in things that have ranged from the morally inappropriate , to the ethically unsound and had been repeatedly asked to do other things that get near and potentially over the line into the illegal."

Epstein described those activities as "helping Bill to get drugs, in order to deal with consequences of sex with russian girls, to facilictating his illicit trysts, with married women,to being asked to provide adderal."

In a statement to NBC News on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Bill Gates denied the allegations. "These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false," the statement said. "The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein`s frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame."

Gates` ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, said in an interview with NPR`s "Wild Card" podcast on Tuesday that she felt "unbelievable sadness" seeing her ex-husband`s name mentioned in the new batch of files.

"Whatever questions remain there ... for those people, and for even my ex-husband, they need to answer to those things, not me," she said. "And I am so happy to be away from all the muck that was there."

Gates was among a long list of powerful men, that includes President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and former President Bill Clinton, named in the millions of files collected by the Justice Department.

Trump, Musk and Clinton have denied wrongdoing and have not been accused by authorities of any crime in connection to Epstein. Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed on Monday to testify in Congress about Epstein in the near future.

Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein`s former girlfriend and accomplice, is the sole person to have been charged and convicted of crimes associated with Epstein. She is currently serving a prison sentence in Texas.

Epstein died in jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019. His death was ruled a suicide.