Jeffrey Epstein pitched his connections with billionaires to get close to Bill Gates

Why did Bill Gates have so many meetings with Jeffrey Epstein?

According to the Microsoft founder, Epstein had something few other people could offer: connections to billionaires planning where their money would go when they died.

The ultrawealthy sex offender had pitched himself as someone who could help bring enormous sums of money to the Gates Foundation's global health initiatives from Wall Street and Middle East billionaires figuring out their estate plans, Gates told a congressional committee.

"It was because of his purported relationship with billionaires, and because he was part of those tax and will discussions, that it seemed credible to me that he might be able to raise — or be a referral source to help raise — billions of dollars for global health," Gates said.

Gates described his relationship with Epstein in a June 10 interview with the House Oversight Committee that lasted nearly six hours. The committee, which is investigating Epstein's relationships with powerful people, released a transcript on Tuesday afternoon.

Gates said he had at least a dozen meetings with Epstein — at his Manhattan mansion, on a private jet, and over Skype — between 2011 and 2014. He said the discussions in those meetings revolved around raising funds for philanthropy, and that he regrets them.

Gates hasn't been accused of any sexual misconduct related to Epstein — who pleaded guilty in 2008 to sex offenses in Florida and died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on more severe federal sex-trafficking charges.

In his interview with members of the House Oversight Committee, Gates disclosed that he had previously cooperated with a law enforcement investigation into Epstein, sitting for an interview with US Virgin Islands investigators into Epstein's sex-trafficking operation. Gates apologized for allowing Epstein to use him to improve his own reputation in the aftermath of his initial criminal conviction.

"I see now that he sought to build an image of legitimacy around himself using connections to reputable and powerful people to deflect scrutiny and attempt to rehabilitate his reputation," Gates said.

Epstein often told people that he made his money by managing the money of billionaires. His estate, which included his Manhattan mansion, an island in the US Virgin Islands, was valued at $630 million after his death.

His only known billionaire financial clients were former L Brands CEO Les Wexner and former Apollo Global Management CEO Leon Black, both of whom cut ties with Epstein after accusing him of acting dishonestly with their money. The Epstein files released by the Justice Department showed that he unsuccessfully tried to convince Mort Zuckerman, the billionaire real estate and media mogul, to hand over control of his finances to him.

According to Gates, Epstein said he could direct his clients' money to the Gates Foundation as part of their "tax and will discussions."

"The key time when people think that through is when they're doing their will — how much goes to their children," Gates told the House Oversight Committee. "For people who are very rich, hopefully they think of a large sum being available for philanthropy."

Epstein used his relationship with Gates to maintain ties with JPMorgan Chase, which had raised red flags when his accounts withdrew large sums of cash in the years following his 2008 conviction. Epstein pitched two of the bank's executives, Jes Staley and Mary Erdoes, on the idea of setting up a donor-advised fund for the Gates Foundation's Global Health Program at the bank, according to emails obtained through a now-settled lawsuit by US Virgin Islands against JPMorgan Chase. Gates told the House Oversight Committee that he discussed the donor-advised fund with Epstein "but it was a dead end."

The Epstein files released by the Justice Department show that Epstein communicated with former Microsoft executives Steven Sinofsky and Nathan Myhrvold and former board member Reid Hoffman. Gates told the committee he was unaware of their relationships with Epstein. Gates said he wasn't knowledgeable about Epstein's relationship with Melanie Walker, a former Gates Foundation employee with whom Epstein frequently communicated.

Aside from fruitless discussions about philanthropy, Epstein wormed his way into Gates' life in more sinister ways, Gates said.

Gates told Congress he first met Epstein in 2011, following an introduction by Boris Nikolic, who at the time was a science advisor to his foundation. Representatives for Nikolic didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nikolic knew about extramarital affairs Gates had with two women, Gates said. Emails released by the Justice Department show that Nikolic sought Epstein's advice on extracting a favorable exit package when he stopped working for the foundation.

Epstein knew about those two affairs and appeared to be friendly with a third woman he had an affair with, Gates told Congress. Epstein made "veiled threats" to disclose those affairs, he said.

"He never blackmailed me, but looking at these emails, it raises a serious probability that he contemplated blackmailing me," Gates said.

On one occasion — after Gates said he cut ties with Epstein, in December 2014 — Epstein asked Gates to reimburse him for several thousand dollars in expenses related to one of the women Gates had an affair with, emails show. Gates didn't pay it and said he viewed the request as "a tactic" to re-engage with the sex offender.

"I took that on very explicitly and said, 'Look, if you think you're going to get more money out of this, it's not going to happen, and if that means you go out and talk to people about things, I will just bear the pain of that and deal with it,'" Gates told Congress.