A report published by TheWall Street Journal on Sunday said convicted sexual offender Jeffrey Epstein allegedly threatened and tried to blackmail Bill Gates over extramarital affair with Russian bridge player Mila Antonova.
The Journal report quoting sources familiar with the matter said that after Epstein found out about Gates’ affair with Antonova, he threatened the Microsoft co-founder into reimbursing him for tuition costs that Epstein had initially covered for Antonova to attend software coding school.
Epstein threatened Gates in 2017 through an email after he failed to convince Gates to join a multibillion-dollar charity fund he attempted to set up, according to the report.
Gates met Antonova in 2009 at a bridge tournament in Washington, DC, when she was in her 20s, and went on to play bridge with her. In a 2010 YouTube video, Antonova spoke about a tournament that she played with Gates. “I didn’t beat him but I tried to kick him with my leg,” she said in the video.
The billionaire tech titan would have been in his late 50s and married to Melinda Gates at that time.
With Melinda, Gates shares three children. The couple divorced in May 2021 after 27 years of marriage.
It isn’t clear exactly when Gates and Antonova embarked on their alleged romantic tryst or how long it may have gone on.
About Antonova
Antonova was born and raised in Russia. She is an accomplished card player.
Antonova attended a university in her homeland from 2000 to 2005, according to her now-deleted LinkedIn profile.
She also worked as a software engineer in San Francisco.
She founded a bridge club at some point after relocating to the US.
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