The Gates Foundation met with Epstein about 30 times despite staff concerns, an external review says

NEW YORK (AP) — Bill Gates and the staff of his charitable foundation met with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein more than two dozen times even as employees expressed concerns about the reputational risk of working with him, an external review commissioned by the Gates Foundation found.

The conversations appeared to focus on a public health fund that never materialized and a grant to the International Peace Institute, which was run by an associate of Epstein.

The roughly 30 meetings, which took place from 2011 to 2014, included several visits to Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse and one meeting on the Gates Foundation campus, according to the review by law firm WilmerHale. The review found no evidence the foundation paid Epstein or did anything illegal. The foundation released a three-page summary of WilmerHale’s report Tuesday and did not say if it would release the full version.

Gates, who chairs the Gates Foundation, has not been accused in connection with Epstein’s crimes and has repeatedly denied any knowledge of Epstein’s abuse of girls. He told a congressional committee last month that he made a “grave error in judgment” by meeting with the disgraced financier.

Gates’ name appears in the trove of documents released by the Justice Department as part of its Epstein probe. The Epstein files include the names of powerful men across tech, finance, politics and business, all of whom have denied involvement in Epstein’s crimes.

Epstein was federally indicted in July 2019 on charges of sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. He died by suicide while awaiting trial.

The release of the Gates Foundation summary follows last week’s revelation that Warren Buffett, a longtime friend of Gates who has put the majority of his charitable gifts toward the tech billionaire’s philanthropy, omitted the Gates Foundation from his annual donations this year. Buffett explained that the decision was more about his belief that his three children are ready to manage his fortune than it was about Gates’ “distasteful” association with Epstein.

That association began when an adviser to both the foundation and Gates’ personal office introduced the two men, according to the review. Three years earlier, Epstein had pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor.

Epstein recommended that Gates establish a charitable investment fund to pool wealthy individuals’ gifts for global public health. Staff followed up with Epstein at Gates’ request on the legal considerations and tax benefits to donors.

Those discussions led to a December 2014 breakfast at Epstein’s Manhattan residence with Gates, foundation staff and potential donors. Gates concluded that Epstein had “misrepresented” the donors’ willingness to contribute, according to the review, and the foundation stopped working on the concept.

Epstein also brought together Gates and the head of a nonprofit that would eventually receive money from the foundation. In 2012, the review concluded, Epstein introduced Gates to Terje Rød-Larsen, then the president of the International Peace Institute. The Gates Foundation reached a grant agreement the following year with the International Peace Institute related to polio eradication. Rød-Larsen resigned in 2020 over his connections to Epstein.

Throughout their interactions, according to the review, Gates knew about Epstein’s sex offense and heard concerns about their association from staff working with Epstein on the charitable investment fund.

Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman said the board has approved measures that will strengthen their vetting process and risk management.

“The work we do depends on integrity and earning and maintaining the trust of partners,” Suzman said in a press release. The foundation offered no further comment.

WilmerHale noted that its five-month review did not include access to Gates’ personal communications or encompass Epstein’s interactions with Gates in a personal capacity.

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