Bill Gates 'makes it clear' to Gates Foundation employees at Town Hall: I don't want to spend my time and money on ...

Microsoft founder Bill Gates recently made it clear that his idea of spending his wealth differs from many super rich, including his late friend and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Gates has reportedly said that he has no interest in owning the NFL franchise that Paul Allen purchased in 1997 and which is now seeking a new buyer, eight years after Allen’s death. The team’s price is expected to surpass $6 billion. Though Gates never publicly said that he was interested in buying the football team, his close ties with Seattle ties as well as strong connection with Allen, made many speculate his name among list of potential owners. Gates is said to have always regarded Allen as his cooler older friend. Gates reportedly admired Allen’s wide-ranging interests, including music and sports.

Gates made his views on buying the football franchise clear recently at a Townhall meeting with Gates Foundation employees. As per a report in The Seattle Times, the question came up this week during the Townhall meeting with Gates Foundation employees. Gates said that his billions are dedicated to the philanthropic organization and that he is not keen on spending it on the NFL team. “This is a great city,” Gates said. “But owning a sports team will not be a part of how I spend my time.”

Bill Gates apology to employees

During the Townhall, Bill Gates also apologised to Gates Foundation staff for his past interactions with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, he acknowledged that the entire situation puts the foundation’s reputation at risk. “It definitely is the opposite of the values of the Foundation and the goals of the foundation,” he said, according to the recording reviewed by the newspaper. “And our work is very reputational sensitive. I mean, people can choose to work with us or not work with us.”

He reportedly told employees it was “a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein” and to bring foundation executives into meetings with the sex offender, the newspaper reported. In the town hall, Gates accepted two extramarital affairs (with a Russian bridge player and a Russian nuclear physicist) that Epstein later discovered through Gates’s former science adviser Boris Nikolic, as per WSJ report. Gates insisted he didn’t participate in or witness any of Epstein’s crimes, telling employees, “I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit.”