Elon Musk lashed out at Invoice Gates after the Microsoft co-founder accused him of “killing the world’s poorest children” over his management of cost-cutting company DOGE — retorting that he wouldn’t belief Gates round his children due to his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
“Who does Bill Gates think he is to make comments about the welfare of children given that he frequented Jeffrey Epstein?” Musk stated throughout an interview on Tuesday on the Bloomberg Qatar Financial Discussion board.
“I wouldn’t trust that guy to baby-sit my kids, I can tell you that.”
Musk’s assault was a nod to Gates’ controversial historical past with Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted intercourse offender with high-level connections whose demise in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 was dominated a suicide.
Musk’s broadside assault on Gates got here after the software program mogul gave a blistering interview to the Monetary Occasions earlier this month by which he accused the previous DOGE chief of recklessly gutting US overseas assist applications.
“The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one,” Gates stated, pointing to cuts in USAID funding for HIV-prevention treatment in Mozambique.
“I’d love for him to go in and meet the children that have now been infected with HIV because he cut that money.”
Gates stated the choice to slash USAID funding stemmed from conspiracy theories reportedly circulated in Musk’s interior circle — particularly, that US overseas assist was getting used to ship condoms to Hamas in Gaza.
Musk vehemently denied Gates’ claims on Tuesday, including: “Show us any evidence whatsoever that that is true. It’s false.”
In February, Musk’s company declared that it was “time for [USAID] to die,” and defunded quite a few applications.
In defending the cuts, a White Home spokesperson described Musk as “a patriot working to fulfill President Trump’s mission to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse.”
The escalating feud between Musk and Gates is the newest flare-up in a years-long conflict between the 2 tech titans, together with a 2022 episode by which Musk publicly mocked Gates after studying the Microsoft founder had shorted Tesla inventory.
Representatives for Gates and Musk didn’t instantly reply to The Publish’s requests for remark.
The Microsoft billionaire met with Epstein a number of instances earlier than his demise, together with at the least three get-togethers on the financier’s Manhattan townhouse, in line with the New York Occasions.
The conferences began in 2011, after Epstein had already pleaded responsible to soliciting a minor for prostitution, served jail time and registered as a intercourse offender, in line with the report.
Gates was working an enormous philanthropic establishment with a number of applications devoted to gender equality for ladies and ladies throughout that point via his Invoice & Melinda Gates Basis.
“His lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing although it would not work for me,” Gates reportedly stated in an electronic mail to colleagues in 2011 after that first assembly.
A spokesperson for Gates has stated he was solely referring to the best way Epstein’s dwelling was adorned and his behavior of spontaneously inviting visitors, not any “sense of interest or approval.”
Epstein was later indicted on federal intercourse trafficking fees involving dozens of underage ladies.
Gates has stated he regrets the conferences, calling them “a huge mistake,” and the interactions in the end performed a job within the unraveling of his longtime marriage.
Melinda French Gates informed “CBS Mornings” in March 2022 that her choice to divorce Gates after 27 years was influenced partly by her discomfort along with his affiliation with Epstein, saying she made her disapproval “clear” to her then-husband.
Even after their marriage in 1994, Gates reportedly pursued ladies at Microsoft on a number of events and have become identified for his clumsy advances, fueling workplace gossip, although he didn’t strain these ladies into complying, a number of workers informed the Occasions.
At one time, Epstein seemingly threatened Gates with information of his affair with a 20-something Russian bridge participant, Mila Antonova, in line with the Wall Road Journal.
He despatched an electronic mail demanding Gates reimburse him for Antonova’s coding college tuition after the financier did not persuade Gates to launch a multibillion-dollar charitable fund with JPMorgan Chase, in line with the report.
A spokesperson for Gates has acknowledged Epstein tried to make use of “a past relationship” to threaten him, including that Gates didn’t make the cost.
Musk, in the meantime, has his personal ties to Epstein, acknowledging that they met for a quick half-hour on the intercourse offender’s Manhattan dwelling.
He additionally attended a dinner hosted by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman with visitors together with Epstein and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in line with Self-importance Honest.
The Tesla founder was pictured in 2014 alongside Ghislaine Maxwell — Epstein’s confederate who was convicted in 2021 of intercourse trafficking — at a Self-importance Honest Oscars after-party, although he claimed she “photo-bombed” him on the occasion.
In 2023, Musk was subpoenaed by the US Virgin Islands in reference to a lawsuit in opposition to JPMorgan Chase over its ties to Epstein, although he denied having any relationship with Epstein or looking for his monetary recommendation.
