San Francisco, Aug 6 (IANS): Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has admitted that meeting the late convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein was "a huge mistake" in his life.

In an interview with CNN, Gates said that "several" meetings with Epstein gave him credibility, which was a mistake.

According to him, the friendship with Epstein was an attempt to get "billions for philanthropy".

In 2019, Gates told The Wall Street Journal that he had met Epstein, but "didn't have any business relationship or friendship with him".

"Gates regrets ever meeting with Epstein and recognises it was an error in judgment to do so," The New York Times had also quoted a spokesperson for Gates as saying.

Epstein died in prison in August 2019 as he awaited, without the chance of bail, his trial on sex trafficking charges.

He was arrested in New York following allegations that he was running a network of underage girls, some as young as 14, for sex.

His death was determined to be suicide.

Prosecutors alleged that between 1994 and 1997, Epstein's former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently in custody, helped him groom the young girls.

In the CNN interview, when asked if he had any regrets about an affair with a Microsoft employee, Gates said that everyone has regrets but that he needed to "go forward" with his work.

Some of the Microsoft board members last year wanted Gates to step down amid an internal investigation into his alleged affair with an employee.

Gates finally resigned from the Microsoft board in March 2020 before the investigation had been completed, according to reports.

In May, the mega-billionaire couple Bill and Melinda Gates announced they were divorcing because their 27-year marriage has "irretrievably broken".

Melinda will resign from her position as co-chair and trustee at Gates Foundation after two years, if either she or Bill Gates find they are unable to continue to work constructively together.