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.

"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."

Gates has come under renewed scrutiny over his relationship with Epstein following the release of files by the US Department of Justice in January.

The Microsoft co-founder, 70, has not been accused of wrongdoing by any of Epstein's victims.

The WSJ reported that Gates said it was a "huge mistake to spend time with Epstein", but insisted he "never spent any time with victims, the women around him".

"I apologise to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made," he told staff, according to the US newspaper, which said it had reviewed a recording of Gates's remarks.

It reported that Gates said images of him with women, whose faces are redacted, included in the so-called Epstein files were pictures that the late financier asked him to take with his assistants after their meetings.

Gates told the foundation's staff he met Epstein in 2011 - years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution - adding that he said he was aware of some "18-month thing" that had limited Epstein's travel, but that he didn't properly check his background, according to the report.

He continued to meet Epstein through 2014, and spent time with him abroad, he reportedly said, adding that he "never stayed overnight" or visited Epstein's island.

The relationship continued even after his ex-wife expressed doubts, he is reported to have said, adding: "To give her credit, she was always kind of sceptical about the Epstein thing."

Epstein told him he had links with other billionaires and suggested he could help raise money for charitable causes Gates was engaged with, the paper reported.

A spokesperson for the Gates Foundation said in a statement: "This was a scheduled town hall with employees, which Bill does twice a year.

"In the conversation, Bill answered questions submitted by foundation staff on a range of issues, including the release of the Epstein files, the foundation's work in AI, and the future of global health. 

"In the town hall, Bill spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions."

Gates established his philanthropic organisation alongside his then-wife, Melinda French Gates. They divorced in 2021 after 27 years of marriage.

In an interview with an NPR podcast earlier this month, she said the latest release of files dredged up "painful times in my marriage".

"I am so happy to be away from all the muck," she said, adding elsewhere in the interview: "Whatever questions remain there of what - I can't even begin to know all of it - those questions are for those people and for even my ex-husband.

"They need to answer to those things, not me."

US media have reported that before their separation Melinda had been upset about her husband's association with Epstein. After their split was announced, Bill Gates acknowledged having had an affair with a Microsoft employee in 2019.

In his reported remarks to staff on Tuesday, Gates said he met the two women with whom he said he had affairs with through his own social and business activities.

It follows claims made in emails drafted by Epstein in July 2013, and contained in the files released in January, that Gates contracted a sexually transmitted infection and tried to hide it, including from his then-wife Melinda.

Gates's spokesperson has previously called the claim "absolutely absurd and completely false".

One draft email is written as a resignation letter from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and complains about having had to procure medicine for Gates "in order to deal with the consequences of sex with Russian girls".

"While Mr Gates acknowledges that meeting with Epstein was a serious error in judgment, he unequivocally denies any improper conduct related to Epstein and the horrible activities in which Epstein was involved," they said at the time.

Gates said in an interview with Australian outlet 9News in February that his interactions with Epstein were limited to dinners and that he regretted "every minute" he spent with him. "I apologise that I did that," he said.

In separate statement shared previously in response to the latest batch of Epstein files, the Gates Foundation said "a small number of foundation employees interacted" with the late financier on the basis that he claimed to be able to "mobilise significant philanthropic resources".

"Ultimately, the foundation did not pursue any collaboration with Epstein and no fund was ever created. At no time were financial payments made by the foundation to Epstein, nor was he employed by the foundation at any time," it said.