Once upon a time, Bill Gates had a good reputation. Sure, he was a billionaire, but he was generally considered one of the good ones. He used his wealth to help dramatically reduce child mortality around the world, made huge strides in disease prevention, and funded all kinds of medical research.
Now? Well, we already knew Gates was up to his eyeballs in Jeffrey Epstein’s sick world, but with the recent release of millions of emails, things have gotten so much worse.
Not only are there many emails detailing meetings, dinners, lunches, phone calls, and discussions between Gates and Epstein, but a saga in which Epstein describes an alleged incident in which Gates had sex with “Russian girls,” contracted a sexually transmitted infection, got antibiotics for it, and tried to secretly give those antibiotics to his then-wife, Melinda.
It’s worth underlining that the files do not say that Gates did anything criminal and there are no accusations from Epstein’s victims implicating him in abuse. Gates himself is mortified, calling his time with Epstein “foolish,” saying he “regrets every minute” spent with him.
Even so, it appears Gates is at least smart enough to know that he should maybe keep a low profile for a while. As such, he’s unexpectedly pulled out of delivering a keynote address at the India AI Impact Summit in Delhi just hours before he was due on stage.
The Gates Foundation explained that the decision was made after “careful consideration” and “to ensure the focus remains on the [summit’s] key priorities”, but did not elaborate. It’s perhaps safe to say that right now Gates is at best a distraction, at worst an active disruption to the conference. After all, how would he respond to a heckler or protester yelling that he was complicit in Epstein’s crimes?
Go away and don’t come back
Judging by the reaction online, Gates has few defenders right now:
He better not show up anywhere.
— Nevena Cankovic (@NevenaCankovic) February 19, 2026
He should be arrested.
I feel like Bill Gates shouldn't be allowed to own 400k acres of farmland and should be in prison.
— Paul (@WomanDefiner) February 15, 2026
Gates has the best reputation launderers and PR firms on the planet at his disposal, but at this point, it’s doubtful even they could rehabilitate his shattered public image. Once upon a time, people looked at him and saw a tech genius. Then they saw a philanthropist. Now? Just another dirty old man who couldn’t keep it in his pants.
Published: Feb 19, 2026 08:05 am