The Gates Foundation said on Tuesday that an external review found no evidence the organization paid Jeffrey Epstein or that its staff participated in or had knowledge of his sex trafficking operations or other criminal activities.
Law firm WilmerHale conducted more than 50 interviews and reviewed extensive written materials as part of the inquiry commissioned in March
David Ryder / Getty Images
The Gates Foundation said on Tuesday that an external review found no evidence the organization paid Jeffrey Epstein or that its staff participated in or had knowledge of his sex trafficking operations or other criminal activities.
The foundation commissioned the review in March, retaining law firm WilmerHale to examine its historical ties to Epstein. According to the foundation, WilmerHale's investigation included interviews with more than 50 current and former employees alongside a review of a wide range of written records.
WilmerHale's review identified two focal points in the foundation's dealings with Epstein between 2011 and 2014: discussions around a proposed donor-advised fund and a relationship with a nonprofit called the International Peace Institute. The foundation did not pursue the donor-advised fund idea. The foundation ultimately extended funding to the International Peace Institute to support polio eradication efforts, a step it said was subject to internal vetting before it was approved.
"The review found no evidence that Epstein was paid by the foundation. It also found no evidence of participation in, or knowledge of, Epstein's ongoing sex trafficking operations or criminal activities," the foundation said in a statement.
Scrutiny of the foundation's Epstein ties intensified after the U.S. Justice Department released emails in January showing communication between Epstein and foundation staff. Microsoft $MSFT co-founder Bill Gates, 70, has said he regrets his association with Epstein and has denied witnessing any criminal conduct. He has not been accused of any crimes.
The review's outcome comes amid a broader rupture between the Gates Foundation and longtime donor Warren Buffett. Buffett paused his midyear donation to the foundation pending the results of the WilmerHale review, marking the first time in roughly two decades he had delayed the gift. Since beginning his giving in 2006, Buffett had transferred a total of roughly $48 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway $BRK.B stock to the foundation.
The relationship between the two men deteriorated as the Epstein matter unfolded. Buffett disclosed in March that he and Gates had not been in contact since documents detailing Gates's relationship with Epstein began to surface. Gates told the House Oversight Committee in June that the last time he spoke with Buffett was in January, before the Epstein files were released.
Buffett subsequently excluded the Gates Foundation from his annual charitable stock gifts entirely, directing the full donation to four family-linked foundations instead. The Gates Foundation, started by Gates and his then-wife Melinda French Gates in 2000, is one of the world's largest funders of global health initiatives.
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