Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Sep 03, 2025

Bill Gates on Elon Musk feud and Jeffrey Epstein meetings

Bill Gates on Elon Musk feud and Jeffrey Epstein meetings

In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC's Today programme, Bill Gates says conspiracy theories about him are "crazy" and that being shouted at in public is "awful". He also told the BBC's Mishal Husain that meeting Jeffrey Epstein was a "mistake" and talks about Elon Musk's recent public criticism of him.

Bill Gates used to be the world's richest person. That title is now held by Elon Musk. The two men, however, don't get on.

Last week Mr Musk accused Mr Gates of "shorting" Tesla stock - a way of making money by betting that a company will lose value. Mr Musk has also tweeted puerile insults towards Mr Gates on Twitter.

"There's no need for him to be nice to me," Mr Gates says.

Mr Musk has argued that shorting Tesla, a company that makes electric cars, undermines Mr Gates' environmental philanthropy.

Asked specifically about whether he had bet against Tesla, Mr Gates replied: "That has nothing to do with climate change. I have ways of diversifying."

He pushed back against the idea that shorting Tesla was environmentally damaging.

"The popularity of electric cars will lead to more competition for selling those cars. So there's a difference between electric cars being adopted, and companies becoming infinitely valuable."

Mr Musk has recently had a bid to buy Twitter accepted by the company's board.

Asked what he made of the deal, Mr Gates said: "You know, Elon, I guess it's possible Twitter could be worse. But it also could be better… So I have a wait and see attitude."

Mr Gates has a particular interest in social media, not because that's how he made his billions, but because he has become a focus of conspiracy theories.

He has long been an advocate of vaccines - and has pumped billions into inoculation programmes around the world.

That prominence has made him the subject of bizarre and unfounded claims that he is trying to track people through the jabs. Many of the theories have been promoted on social media platforms, and took off during the pandemic.

"In some ways, you almost have to laugh because it's so crazy," he says.

"I mean, do I really want to track people? You know, I spend billions on vaccines, I don't make money on vaccines, vaccines save lives."

Mr Gates also said he'd been shouted at by conspiracy theorists on the street.

An anti-lockdown activist in London


"Only recently I've been out in public, [and] some people yell at me that I'm tracking them. And that, that's an awful thing."

Mr Gates and his wife Melinda French Gates announced that they were getting a divorce last year. The couple set up the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - one of the largest charitable organisations in the world - and had been married for 27 years.

"My life is very different. My kids are gone from the house, the last one left for college a year ago. The divorce is very hard. It was a tough year," he says.

The marriage ended with reports that Mr Gates had had an extra-marital affair. In March Melinda Gates also said that she questioned why he had held meetings with disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

"I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, no. I made that clear to him", she told CBS in March.

Asked about the meetings, Mr Gates described talking with Epstein as a "mistake".

"I made a mistake ever meeting with Jeffrey Epstein. You know, maybe her [Melinda's] instincts on that were keener than mine.

"Any meeting I had with him could be viewed as almost condoning his evil behaviour. So, that was a mistake."


Bill Gates: Conspiracy theorists yell at me on the street


Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
×