Gates Foundation Announces Epstein Review and Staff Restructuring

The Gates Foundation has commissioned an external investigation into its past engagement with Jeffrey Epstein, CEO Mark Suzman told staff in a memo this week. Suzman informed employees that the review, launched in March with input from Bill Gates and the foundation’s independent board members, is expected to deliver an update this summer.

The investigation will examine the foundation’s policies for vetting new philanthropic partnerships.

A recent board meeting in London included a session on the impact of the Justice Department’s Epstein files on the foundation. Bill Gates is preparing to testify before Congress in June about his relationship with Epstein. Gates has characterized the relationship as a mistake focused on philanthropy.

At a foundation town hall earlier this year, Gates apologized for having affairs with two Russian women and said he regretted his time with Epstein. The memo from Suzman was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The Gates Foundation provided a statement to the Journal confirming the review's launch and timeline.

The Gates Foundation did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment for this story. @FortuneMagazine reported that its March investigation, based on more than 3 million pages of Justice Department files, found Epstein spent nearly a decade embedding himself in Gates’ inner circle.

Epstein built a network of intermediaries to get closer to Gates, including Boris Nikolic, Gates’ chief science advisor; Melanie Walker, a former Gates Foundation senior adviser; and Mila Antonova, who was reportedly Gates’ former mistress.

Epstein helped Antonova secure a visa, put her up in his New York apartments, funded her coding classes, and sent her wire transfers. In April 2018, Epstein wrote to Gates’ deputy that he had put Antonova up in his New York apartment and that Gates was playing with fire.

Antonova’s attorney told Fortune in March that she had no knowledge of Epstein’s efforts to pressure Gates and that she naively accepted his help believing he genuinely wanted her to succeed.

Nikolic told Fortune in March that Epstein inserted himself as a mediator into Nikolic’s separation from Gates’ venture fund and used lies to pursue his own agenda. Nikolic added that he realized Epstein’s actions after the fact and continued on without Epstein’s involvement in his work. Justice Department documents show Nikolic and Epstein communicated as late as 2019.

Melanie Walker declined to comment on Fortune’s March story through her lawyers. Justice Department documents showed Epstein’s goal was for Gates to participate in a donor-advised fund Epstein had pitched him on since at least 2011. The donor-advised fund project stalled in 2014, after which Epstein heightened his communication with Gates and his deputies.

A spokesman for Gates told Fortune in March that Gates regrets meeting with Epstein and that Gates never witnessed or engaged in any illicit or illegal behavior. Suzman’s memo this week also detailed a restructuring that will cut roughly 500 jobs, or 20% of the foundation’s staff, by 2030.

The goal of cutting 500 jobs by 2030 was announced in January, with the first 200 positions to be eliminated by the end of 2027.

Suzman wrote in the recent memo that this is a challenging time for the organization but it highlights the critical importance of taking tough actions now. Melinda French Gates left the board following her 2021 divorce from Bill Gates and has said Bill’s continued contact with Epstein played a role in their separation.

Warren Buffett gave roughly $43 billion to the foundation between 2006 and 2024.

Buffett told CNBC recently that he has not spoken to Gates since the Epstein disclosures came to light and suggested he may not make further donations. Buffett’s annual gifts are typically announced in June. Buffett told CNBC in March that he does not want to be in a position where he knows things to be called as a witness.