Gates Foundation Announces Epstein Ties Review, 20% Staff Cut by 2030

The Gates Foundation has launched an external review of its past ties with Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender, and plans to eliminate up to 500 jobs, or about 20% of its staff, by 2030, The Wall Street Journal reported. "This is a challenging time for our organization in many ways, but it also highlights the critical importance of taking the tough actions now," Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman said in a memo to staff, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Bill Gates is scheduled to be interviewed about Epstein on June 10 by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. In February, Bill Gates apologized to the foundation's staff for his association with Epstein and admitted having affairs, which Epstein learned of, the Journal previously reported. Gates told staff, "I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit," the newspaper reported.

Gates became friends with Epstein in 2011. In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida state court to soliciting an underage girl for prostitution. Epstein killed himself in August 2019 while in a New York City federal jail.

Epstein was arrested on child sex trafficking charges weeks before his death in August 2019. In March, Warren Buffett told CNBC that he has not spoken to Bill Gates since details of Epstein's communications with Gates were revealed in documents released by Congress and the Justice Department.

"I don't want to be in a position where I know things ... to be called as a witness," said Buffett, who since 2006 has donated more than $43 billion to the Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation was founded by Bill Gates and Melinda Gates. The Gates Foundation was started by Bill Gates and his then-wife in 2000.

The organization is one of the world's biggest funders of global health initiatives.