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Bill Gates and senior leaders of his charitable foundation received multiple warnings from staff about the risks of working with convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to raise money for global health, an external review has found.
The Gates Foundation pursued its effort to collaborate with the late financier for more than three years but there was no evidence employees knew of his ongoing crimes, according to a summary of the report published on Tuesday.
Gates will remain chair of the $89bn foundation he continues to finance, after completion of the review by law firm WilmerHale, which was commissioned by chief executive Mark Suzman. The foundation has announced several organisational changes that it said were aimed at improving its governance and internal processes.
“The work we do depends on integrity and earning and maintaining the trust of partners,” said Suzman, a former FT journalist and UN official who took over as chief executive of the Gates Foundation in 2020.
“That’s why we welcome the findings of this external review and are moving forward with board-approved actions to further strengthen how we vet partners, manage risk and ensure accountability going forward.”
The review found that Gates was “aware of reputational concerns” related to Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea for soliciting a minor when the two men began conversations in 2011. The interactions resulted in Gates Foundation staff meeting Epstein to discuss a proposal to set up a possible donor-advised fund (DAF) to mobilise investment.
“Foundation staff working on the potential DAF raised on multiple occasions the risks of associating with Epstein because of his prior conviction, and those concerns were raised to senior leadership, including Mr Gates,” the review summary said.
The foundation’s contacts with Epstein finally ceased in December 2014 after the disgraced financier hosted a breakfast meeting at his Manhattan residence with Gates, foundation staff and a group of potential donors, the review said.
“Epstein’s guests did not appear informed about the DAF and it became clear to Mr Gates and foundation staff that Epstein had misrepresented the potential donors’ knowledge of and willingness to commit to the DAF,” the summary said. “Soon thereafter, the foundation stopped working with Epstein on the DAF concept.”
WilmerHale conducted more than 50 interviews with former and current employees and reviewed extensive written materials, the foundation said. It added that it regretted having “any employees interact with Epstein in any way”.
Gates has said he regretted “every minute” he spent with Epstein in what he said was the misguided belief he could arrange charitable donations from rich people.
The Microsoft co-founder, who has not been accused of involvement in Epstein’s crimes, has survived in post despite others stepping down from high-profile public roles because of their links to Epstein. Gates remains the main funder and figurehead of the foundation into which he has poured tens of billions of dollars.
“Completing this review is an important step in providing the clarity that partners, employees and grantees deserve as well as strengthening our oversight with additional policies going forward,” Gates said. “We are committed to ensuring trust and transparency are never compromised.”
Last week the investor Warren Buffett, a longtime friend of Gates, excluded the Gates Foundation from his annual donation of shares despite having previously donated more than $47bn. In a separate interview, the billionaire chair of Berkshire Hathaway described Gates’s relationship with Epstein as “distasteful” but said he could “picture” himself making a similar mistake in choosing associates.
Among the governance changes implemented by the Gates Foundation is the creation of a centralised vetting process for prospective funding facilitators with connections to Gates or members of the organisation’s senior leadership team or governing board. It will also create a process for flagging organisational risks on projects introduced by any of those people to be escalated as needed to the chief executive.
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