Who is Mila Antonova? All about the Russian bridge player at the center of Bill Gates' extramarital affair scandal

A startling report in the Wall Street Journal alleged that a Russian bridge player Mila Antonova was embroiled in a scandalous affair with one of the richest people in the world, Bill Gates, while he was still married to his former partner Melinda Gates.

The report revealed that Bill Clinton was reportedly extorted by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein over his clandestine relationship with Mila Antonova, who was 20 when the torrid affair allegedly began. According to WSJ, the then 55-year-old Bill Gates met with Antanova around 2010, when she was in her twenties.

In an old clip on Youtube, Antonova was shown giving a presentation about the card game, where she was heard talking about meeting Bill Gates at the National Bridge tournament in Washington D.C. The duo was also pictured together at the time when she said:

“I didn’t beat him, but I tried to kick him with my leg.”

At the time, Mila Antonova was reportedly trying to unsuccessfully raise funds to establish an online bridge tutorial business. During this time, Gates’ advisor Boris Nikolic reportedly introduced the young bridge player to Jeffery Epstein to help her raise funds for the initiative. The business aspired to “promote bridge by creating quality tutorials for beginners and advanced players.”

The WSJ reported that Antonova met Epstein at his New York townhouse in November 2013 but failed to secure funds through the financier. However, after the meeting, Epstein reportedly let Antonova stay in his townhouse for three years and also paid the fees of her coding course.

The publication explained that after Antonova failed to secure the funds for the bridge club, she decided to take up engineering as her profession. To pursue her studies the Russian bridge player reportedly required funds that were provided by Epstein. Antonova told WSJ:

“Epstein agreed to pay and he paid directly to the school. Nothing was exchanged. I don’t know why he did that. When I asked, he said something like, he was wealthy and wanted to help people when he could."

It appears during this time, Epstein gained the confidence of the young bridge player. In 2017, Epstein reportedly emailed Gates and threatened to reveal the affair with Antonova after the Microsoft founder refused to invest in a multibillion-dollar charitable fund that the disgraced financier tried to establish with JP Morgan Chase. Epstein also demanded that Gates reimburse the fee amount paid for Antonova’s coding course. A spokeswoman for Gates said:

“Mr Gates met with Epstein solely for philanthropic purposes. Having failed repeatedly to draw Mr Gates beyond these matters, Epstein tried unsuccessfully to leverage a past relationship to threaten Mr Gates."

The relationship between Antonova and Gates reportedly ended in 2017. Epstein, who died in prison, was tied to many prominent personalities after he was charged with s*x crimes. During the time, Bill Gates' association with the disgraced financier was also highlighted after the duo were pictured together at many private events.

Melinda Gates also cited her husband's relationship with Epstein as one of the reasons for their divorce in 2020. It now appears Epstein was extorting Gates over his extramarital affair with the Russian bridge player.

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Mila Antonova currently resides in Palo Alto California

Mila Antonova, an avid bridge player, attended a university in Russia between 2000 and 2005 before taking her skills on the road and participating in multiple tournaments across the world. Antonova, who describes herself as an entrepreneur, teacher, and skilled bridge player from Russia, had an American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) ranking of Bronze Life Master.

Antonova, who met Bill Gates during a National Bridge tournament in 2010, founded a bridge club in the U.S. after moving to the country from Russia in 2007. Through Bridge Club, she shared her expertise by teaching others interested in the field.

Sometime between 2010 and 2013, Mila Antonova pursued to establish an online bridge tutorial business which failed to take off after she was unable to secure funds for the initiative.

In 2013, Mila Antonova decided to pursue coding and became a software engineer in the Bay Area. As per her Linkedin Page, which has been taken down, Antonova, is a resident of Palo Alto California. The bridge player is currently working as a software engineer in a company called “Beyond Pricing,” where she specializes in Python and JavaScript web development.

WSJ stated that Mila Antonova declined to comment on her affair with Gates but said that she was unaware of Epstein’s predatory inclinations when she met him in 2013.