Gateway Cofounder Ted Waitt Testifies He Dated Ghislaine Maxwell for Six Years After Epstein’s Guilty Plea

Gateway Computer cofounder Ted Waitt testified before the House Oversight Committee in a closed-door appearance on April 30, 2026 in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC. A transcript of that testimony was released by the committee as it conducts closed-door transcribed interviews with Waitt and others investigating convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

Waitt told lawmakers he regrets not digging into Jeffrey Epstein's 2008 guilty plea.

The billionaire distanced himself from both Maxwell and Epstein. "I can say unequivocally that if I knew then what I know now about Ms. Maxwell, I never would've befriended her or allowed her to be around my four children," Waitt said.

He added that he rarely interacted with Epstein, less than five times. Waitt said Jeffrey Epstein seemed to have significant influence over Maxwell, that she looked up to him, and that he was not comfortable with Maxwell's deference toward Epstein. Waitt met Ghislaine Maxwell during a large dinner in Hong Kong with Bill Clinton, Jeffrey Epstein, and others.

He started seriously dating Maxwell in 2004. Their romantic relationship lasted six years. 2 million. " Waitt recalled that someone on his staff might have said she was very unhappy with the breakup and was not in a good state.

His team handled the final details of the breakup because he did not want to get directly involved. 2M amount and wanted more. "I just felt it was the right thing to do, not uncommon for people in my situation to do that.

We lived a fairly extravagant life. In hindsight, if I had to do it over again, I wouldn't have done it," he said. Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and other charges in connection with Jeffrey Epstein.

She was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022. ABC News reported that Waitt offered few new details that alter the public understanding of Epstein and Maxwell's crimes. Waitt said that during her own interview with then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Maxwell claimed her relationship with him ended after he was blackmailed for $10 million in exchange for dropping mention of her from civil lawsuits filed against Epstein.

Waitt told lawmakers that never happened. ABC News reported the testimony seemingly contradicted some of what Maxwell had provided to Blanche over nine hours of interviews across two days last year.