Bill Gates has named three women he had affairs with, claiming Jeffrey Epstein wanted to blackmail him over the infidelities.

The Microsoft co-founder told the House Oversight Committee the pedophile had never succeeded in extorting him but that “it looks like Mr Epstein’s brainstorming was going in that direction.”

In a newly-published transcript of Gates’ testimony to the panel on June 10, the tech billionaire admitted to affairs with two Russian women – bridge player Mila Antonova and nuclear physicist Karima Nigmatulina – and with medical entrepreneur Dr Alice Jacobs Nesselrodt.

He denied ever witnessing or participating in any sexual misconduct in Epstein’s company but acknowledged that he may have unwittingly found himself “in the presence of victims” after being introduced to him in 2011 by his former employee Dr Boris Nikolic, a mutual friend.

Gates has not been accused of wrongdoing in relation to the disgraced financier, who died by suicide in a New York City jail cell in August 2019.

He appeared in the Epstein files released by the Department of Justice in December and January, prompting questions about their past interactions. Being mentioned in the files does not imply wrongdoing.

During his testimony, Gates said he believed Nikolic may have told Epstein about two of the affairs, prompting the latter to weigh up the possibility of using the information as leverage against him.

Addressing unsent draft emails written by the pedophile financier in 2013 that contain lurid allegations, Gates said: “I think that Epstein, when he was writing emails to himself, took every potential negative thing he knew, and some that are completely false, and he put those into draft emails to himself.

“And so I think if in some weird way he discovered anything negative to say about me, we would have seen that in the emails that he sent to himself.”

The draft emails, the content of which Gates said was false, show Epstein claiming to have facilitated sexual encounters and to have provided him with medication to feed to his then-wife Melinda Gates without her knowledge, to treat a sexually-transmitted disease he believed he had contracted.

Gates said it was “possible” he may have confided a fear to Nikolic that he had caught an STD but clarified to the committee: “I never had an STD…

“I’ve said I may have indicated some concern about whether I had an STD; I don’t recall that. But I never had an STD. I never gave medicines to anyone covertly.”

Gates explained that, in total, he had met Epstein “like 12 to 14 times, plus two Skype calls in total over the four-year period.”

When challenged on his decision to associate with him despite being aware of his past criminal conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida, he testified: “I have regret that I didn’t factor that in to a greater degree.”

The Independent has reached out to Gates for further comment.

Following the DOJ’s release of the Epstein files, Gates apologized to Gates Foundation staff at the organization’s biannual town hall in February, at which he again stressed that he had done nothing wrong but regretted his past association.

“I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” he told those in attendance. “To be clear, I never spent any time with victims, the women around him…

“It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein. I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made.”

A Gates Foundation spokesperson told The Independent at the time: “Bill answered questions submitted by foundation staff on a range of issues, including the release of the Epstein files… Bill spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions.”

The Oversight Committee also released testimony Tuesday from its recent behind-closed-doors hearing with Epstein’s former executive assistant Lesley Groff, who said she booked appointments for him “almost daily” but denied ever scheduling them with people she believed were underage.

The committee investigating Epstein has already heard from a number of other high-profile people including Bill and Hillary Clinton, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and former attorney general Pam Bondi.

Bondi’s acting successor Todd Blanche could be next in line for a closed-door session, with lawyer Alan Dershowitz also expected to give testimony.