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A Russian bridge player’s affair with Bill Gates has been brought to light by a bombshell new report which claims Jeffrey Epstein used his knowledge of the relationship to blackmail the Microsoft co-founder.
Disgraced financier and convicted pedophile Epstein, who committed suicide in jail amid suspicious circumstances in 2019, wanted Gates to invest in a multibillion-dollar charitable fund in 2013 but he would not oblige.
Epstein later sent Gates an email implying he was aware of his affair with bridge player Mila Antonova and that he could reveal his infidelity, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
Gates, whose love of the card game has been widely publicised, allegedly engaged in an affair with Antonova after they played one another at a tournament in 2009.
The tech mogul, who was married to Melina Gates but has since divorced, was 55 at the time of the alleged affair. Antonova meanwhile was in her 20s.
This is what we know about Mila Antonova.
Bill Gates and Mila Antonova pictured in 2010 after they met at a bridge tournament
Pictured: Jes Staley, Larry Summers, Jeffrey Epstein, Bill Gates and Boris Nikolic. Nikolic in the right of the frame was an adviser to Gates and the person who introduced Mila Antonova to Epstein in 2013 when she was trying to raise funds for an online bridge platform
Who is Mila Antonova?
Mila Antonova is a Russian bridge player who has gained notoriety due to her alleged involvement in an extramarital affair with billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates.
Born and raised in Russia, Antonova is recognised as an accomplished bridge player, who studied in her native country before moving to the US where she founded a bridge club.
She credits the game of bridge with helping her develop fluency in the English language.
In 2013, Antonova attempted to raise funding for business venture BridgePlanet – an online school that would teach people how to play the game and record tutorials for players of all levels – and in doing so was put in contact with financier Epstein.
She ultimately failed to secure the funding required and instead turned to a career in software programming.
Epstein allegedly paid for her tuition fees and later sought to blackmail Gates into reimbursing him by leveraging his knowledge of their extramarital affair.
Gates’ representatives said the Microsoft billionaire never paid Epstein a cent.
‘Mr Gates never had any financial dealings with Epstein. As Bill has said before, it was a mistake to have ever met him,’ his spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
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Antonova’s LinkedIn profile has been removed from the website, but WSJ reported she has since worked as a software programmer for several companies in California.
In a YouTube video from 2010, bridge player Antonova discussed meeting Bill Gates in 2009 and displayed a picture of the pair together
Mila Antonova (right) is pictured attending a different bridge tournament in 2013, the same year she met with Epstein to discuss the funding of her venture BridgePlanet
How did Mila Antonova and Bill Gates meet?
Antonova and Gates first crossed paths in summer 2009, when they played against one another at the North American Bridge Championships (NABC) in Washington DC.
Antonova lost to Gates, but allegedly struck up a relationship with the Microsoft co-founder after the event.
WSJ reported that Gates and Antonova engaged in a brief extramarital affair.
Epstein then met Antonova in 2013 amid her attempts to raise funds for BridgePlanet and paid for her to attend software coding school.
Then in 2017, Epstein emailed Gates with a request to be reimbursed for supporting Antonova’s tuition fees, according to WSJ’s sources.
What has Mila Antonova said about Bill Gates in the past?
In a 2010 video in which she was advocating for the benefits of playing bridge, Antonova talked about meeting Gates at the NABC one year prior.
‘I didn’t beat him but I tried to kick him with my leg,’ she said in the video, prompting a round of laughs from the audience.
She also referenced famous quote by actress Mae West: ‘Good sex is like good bridge. If you don’t have a good partner, you’d better have a good hand.’
Antonova has since refrained from publicly addressing the alleged affair with Gates.
Since the story broke, she has maintained a low profile, avoiding media attention and removing public profiles from LinkedIn and other social media sites.
In a brief statement provided to WSJ, the bridge player and software programmer merely expressed her disgust with Epstein’s criminal actions and emphasised she was oblivious to his true intentions when they first met.
‘I had no idea that he was a criminal or had any ulterior motive,’ she said of Epstein.
‘I just thought he was a successful businessman and wanted to help. I am disgusted with Epstein and what he did.’
