Bill Gates’ foundation has launched a probe into his ties with Jeffrey Epstein following the explosive release of files linked to the pedophile.
The Microsoft billionaire’s relationship with Epstein was thrust back into the spotlight last year when the Department of Justice released a tranche of documents containing emails and photos of the two.
Several of the files also included communication between the late financier and the Gates Foundation’s staff.
Now, the Gates Foundation has announced it is investigating the whole organization’s ties to Epstein.
‘In March, with the support of our Chair, Bill Gates, and our independent governing board members, Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman commissioned an external review to assess past foundation engagement with Epstein, and our current policies for vetting and developing new philanthropic partnerships,’ the foundation said in a statement.
‘That review is underway, and we expect the board and management will receive an update this summer.’
Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman sent a memo to staff on Tuesday addressing the review and recently announced layoffs.
‘This is a challenging time for our organization in many ways, but it also highlights the critical importance of taking the tough actions now,’ Suzman wrote in the memo viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Suzman also said that a recent board meeting in London included a session on the impact of the Justice Department’s Epstein files and how they relate to the foundation’s work and reputation.
Gates has said the relationship was confined to philanthropy-related discussions and that it was a mistake for him to meet Epstein.
He is scheduled testify about his Epstein ties before Congress in June.
Last year, Gates, one of the world’s richest men, announced that he would give away 99 percent of his immense fortune over the coming years, leaving one percent for himself and his children.
He vowed to shutter the Gates Foundation by December 31, 2045, effectively ending a lifelong project to give away his multi-billion-dollar fortune.
Gates’ ex-wife, Melinda, resigned from the foundation in May 2024 after separating from the Microsoft tycoon over his rumored closeness to Epstein.
In the documents, an email Epstein drafted for one of Gates’ advisors in 2013 appears to allege Gates contracted an STD and asked that person to procure antibiotics so he could secretly give them to his then-wife, Melinda.
‘TO add insult to injury you them implore me to please delete the emails mails regarding your std, your request that I provide you antibiotics that you can surreptitiously give to Melinda and the description of your penis,’ the email with typos reads.
Another section read that the person was ‘dismayed beyond comprehension’ by Gates’s decision to ‘disregard our friendship developed over the last six years.’
In undated images from the tranche, Gates was pictured with two women whose faces were blurred.
An additional picture reveals that Epstein kept a framed photo of Gates on the wall at his mansion on his private island.
Gates was also pictured standing alongside Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew.
In February, Gates apologized to staff over his ties to the disgraced financier during a town hall meeting at the Gates Foundation.
The billionaire told employees it had been a ‘huge mistake’ to spend time with Epstein and to involve foundation executives in meetings with the convicted sex offender, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
‘I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made,’ Gates said.
He acknowledged having two affairs with Russian women that Epstein later became aware of, but stressed they did not involve any of Epstein’s victims.
‘I did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities,’ Gates said.
‘I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,’ he added. ‘To be clear, I never spent any time with the victims, the women around him.’
