Gates Foundation Gave $5 Million to International Peace Institute After Epstein Introductions, 2013–2020

More than three dozen health experts and diplomats gathered at the Palais des Nations, the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva, on September 12, 2015, for a day-long conference on preparing for pandemics hosted by the International Peace Institute.

Among them was Svetlana Pozhidaeva, then 31 and an assistant to Jeffrey Epstein for about five years. She wore a dress Jeffrey Epstein bought her in Paris.

Jeffrey Epstein had told Svetlana Pozhidaeva she would be working closely with the International Peace Institute and the Gates Foundation to orchestrate the September 2015 pandemic conference. Pozhidaeva said she was given no planning responsibilities despite those claims. She visited the Gates Foundation with Epstein around that time but was not allowed inside the meeting.

Fortune reported that Jeffrey Epstein introduced the Gates Foundation to the International Peace Institute in 2013. He closely advised IPI employees on what to say to obtain an initial $5 million donation from the Gates Foundation that year. Boris Nikolic, Bill Gates’ advisor who regularly interfaced with Epstein, received wiring instructions from Epstein for the grant.

In an August 2013 email, Boris Nikolic wrote that they were trying to accelerate the grant-making process which typically took six to nine months. Several IPI staffers flew to Seattle to meet with the Gates Foundation within one month of that email. 5 million was wired immediately.

The Gates Foundation committed $5 million to IPI in 2013 to support polio eradication. Epstein had corresponded with Boris Nikolic about IPI and polio eradication at the end of 2012. He introduced Bill Gates to IPI’s senior leadership in March 2013 at the residence of then-Nobel Committee chair Thorbjørn Jagland.

Gates Foundation donations made up more than 20% of IPI’s annual donations between 2013 and 2015 according to IRS records. 5 million to IPI between 2013 and 2020 according to public records. Jeffrey Epstein was involved in gifts totaling $950,000 from Leon Black to IPI, including two personal donations totaling $950,000 in 2014.

Jeffrey Epstein sponsored a fellowship with IPI in 2012. He served on IPI’s Mongolia Presidential Advisory Board where he and others advised then-Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj. Terje Rød-Larsen was president of the International Peace Institute until his resignation in 2020.

By 2011, Terje Rød-Larsen had visited Jeffrey Epstein’s house in New York City, stayed in his home in Paris, and visited his island. Terje Rød-Larsen personally borrowed $130,000 from Jeffrey Epstein in 2013. After his 2008 conviction for soliciting an underage woman for prostitution, Jeffrey Epstein began recruiting young-looking foreign women over the age of 18.

Jeffrey Epstein helped women obtain visas, paid for accommodation, clothing, and education while demanding gratitude and obedience. U.S. visa recommendation letters for at least four women in his orbit.

Fortune confirmed two of Epstein’s assistants, including Svetlana Pozhidaeva, held roles on staff at IPI. Svetlana Pozhidaeva worked at IPI on and off between around 2012 and 2016. She had a degree from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and had been modeling for a European fashion brand before meeting Epstein.

A Russian model and Epstein assistant named Ada worked at IPI as an intern, then full-time "external relations assistant," then volunteer for more than two years. The total expense to IPI for Ada’s employment between October 2016 and July 2018 was an estimated $71,000 according to an email to Terje Rød-Larsen. Jeffrey Epstein bankrolled Ada’s salary at IPI himself.

Ada co-published an article about water conservancy on IPI’s site and sent it to Jeffrey Epstein in April 2018. In August 2018, Marna texted Jeffrey Epstein that the Swiss Embassy in Washington had not approved her student visa. Jeffrey Epstein messaged Terje Rød-Larsen within 15 minutes of Marna’s text.

U.S. Department of Justice in December 2019 containing testimony from an IPI employee about "short-term trainees" from Eastern Europe between 2014 and 2016. The IPI employee memo described the trainees as "all young, beautiful females, and without the education required to work at the think tank" who took pictures at the UN sent to Epstein.

U.S. Attorney General for the Southern District of New York responded that they would incorporate the IPI trainee information into their investigation. Svetlana Pozhidaeva and another assistant say they were repeatedly sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein.

Bill Gates issued an apology to Gates Foundation staff in February for his personal correspondence and interactions with Jeffrey Epstein.