Bill Gates "took responsibility for his actions" and addressed his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a meeting with staff from his charitable foundation, the organisation said, BBC reported. 

"Bill spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail," the Gates Foundation said in a statement.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Gates apologised to staff, said he had two affairs with Russian women which Epstein later found out about, and in relation to the late financier said: "I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit."