See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy ALEX HAMMER, US MEDIA CORRESPONDENT Updated: 17:46 BST, 9 July 2026
Microsoft founder Bill Gates was photographed arriving at the notoriously secretive Allen & Co. Sun Valley Conference in Idaho on Thursday.Gates, 70, appeared to give a forced smile as the handful of photographers allowed at the so-called 'summer camp for billionaires' caught him being ferried in by gold cart with girlfriend Paula Hurd.Just a few weeks ago, the mogul was forced to testify about his old relationship with Jeffrey Epstein - part of a Congressional review of past federal probes into the disgraced financier.Gates told the House Oversight Committee that he had affairs with two Russian women and a much younger medical entrepreneur circa 2010 and that he was nearly blackmailed by Epstein as a result.'I learned Epstein ha become aware of sensitive information about my personal life, including the fact that I had been unfaithful in my marriage,' he said while being grilled for roughly six hours.'Epstein was working to use information about my infidelities, in addition to many lies that he layered on top, to pressure me to reengage with him,' Gates also said.Emails reviewed by investigators that Epstein sent himself in 2013 that were released earlier this year appeared to suggest that Gates was having an extramarital affair with then-wife Melinda French Gates. French Gates told CBS Mornings in 2022 her ex-husband's association with Epstein played a major part in their 2021 divorce. Gates has repeatedly said he regrets his association with Epstein but has vehemently denied wrongdoing and has never been charged with any crime. Gates, 70, appeared to give a forced smile while arriving at this year's Sun Valley media conference with girlfriend Paula Hurd Gates' former relationship with Epstein was thrust into the spotlight in December after the two were seen together in a photograph. Additional emails written by Epstein released in February suggested Gates had extramarital affairsShe said that learning of the meetings through reports beginning all the way back in October 2019 caused her 'unbelievable sadness' and brought back memories of "very, very painful times' in their marriage. Epstein wrote he was 'helping Bill to get drugs, in order to deal with consequences of sex with russian[sic] girls, to facilictating[sic] his illicit trysts, with married women,to [sic] being asked to provide adderal[sic]'.Gates named the three women as pro bridge player Mila Antonova, nuclear physicist Karima Nigmatulina, and Dr Alice Jacobs Nesselrodt.'He never blackmailed me, but looking at these emails, it raises a serious probability that he contemplated blackmailing me,' Gates told Congress last month, following the emails' release in February.Gates said he first became acquainted with the convicted sex-trafficker in 2011 through an advisor. By that point, Epstein had already pleaded guilt to charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida.Gates claimed that he believed Epstein could help secure wealthy individuals for the tech kingpin's philanthropic efforts. Gates said he cut off all ties to Epstein in 2014 after a lack of movement on that front.He also vowed he never visited Epstein's infamous Little Saint James Island. Gates owned up to three affairs last month while being grilled by Congress about the extent of he and Epstein's relationship 'I learned Epstein ha become aware of sensitive information about my personal life, including the fact that I had been unfaithful in my marriage,' he said while being questioned for roughly six hours Gates has said he first became acquainted with the convicted sex-trafficker in 2011 through an advisor. Epstein had already pleaded guilt to charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida by that point He also vowed he never visited Epstein's infamous Little Saint James Island, offering the now-public testimony on June 10 Bill and ex-wife Melinda Gates pictured together at the Sun Valley conference in 2015. The couple split six years later, after reports of Gates relationship with Epstein began to emerge. The event is notoriously secretiveOther powerful figures at the the Sun Valley Resort-set event include OpenAI founder Sam Altman, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, and Palantir’s Alex Karp.The conference is hosted each July by Allen & Co., a family-run New York investment bank. Gates has long been a regular presence. He has attended the past two with Hurd, whose relationship with the billionaire was confirmed in February 2023.The event - one of the most closely watched business gatherings of the year - was designed to help cultivate 'long-lasting and lucrative relationships with corporate leaders.' It is kept mostly under wraps.
