- Bill Gates met with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to discuss philanthropy, according to a new report from CNBC.
- The meeting reportedly occurred several years after Epstein was jailed as a sex offender.
- A spokesperson for Gates told CNBC in a statement that, "Epstein never provided tax, estate or services of any kind to Bill Gates."
- For more stories, go to Business Insider South Africa.
Bill Gates is the latest high-profile figure to be linked to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
According to a new report from CNBC published on Wednesday, the Microsoft cofounder met Epstein to "discuss ways to increase philanthropic spending" several years after Epstein was jailed over charges relating to underage prostitution.
The meeting took place in New York in 2013, according to CNBC, and is further evidence of how Epstein was able to make connections in elite society - even after he became a convicted sex offender.
Flight logs also show that Gates and Epstein flew from New York to Palm Beach, Florida, in March 2013, with no other passengers on the plane; CNBC reported that this flight took place after the pair met and was so Gates could go see his family.
In 2013, Gates was still the chairman of Microsoft, though he had stepped down as CEO in 2000.
In a statement, the Gates spokesperson Bridgitt Arnold told Business Insider: "Although Epstein pursued Bill Gates aggressively, any account of a business partnership or personal relationship between the two is categorically false."
A spokesperson previously told CNBC in a statement: "Epstein never provided tax, estate or services of any kind to Bill Gates."
CNBC also reported that Epstein told people he was an "informal advisor" to Gates, though Epstein is said to have played up his connections to appear important.
Epstein died earlier this month in what authorities have said was an apparent suicide after he was arrested on sex-trafficking charges.
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