Warren Buffett spent two decades as the single largest benefactor of Bill Gates’ philanthropy, the Gates Foundation, having donated about $48 billion.
Earlier this month, he walked away due to concerns about the Gates Foundation’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein—a relationship Buffett had recently called “distasteful.” Now a review of Gates’ dealings with Epstein shows the relationship Buffett distanced himself from was closer than previously known.
Gates and his foundation met with the convicted sex offender more than two dozen times even though employees had expressed concerns about the risk of working with him, according to an external review commissioned by the Gates Foundation and conducted by law firm WilmerHale.
The roughly 30 meetings included several visits to Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse and one meeting on the foundation’s own campus. Gates knew about Epstein’s sex offense throughout.
“Earlier this year, the foundation acknowledged that it regretted having any employees interact with Epstein in any way,” according to a Gates Foundation statement. To be sure, the review found no evidence the foundation paid Epstein. “It also found no evidence of participation in, or knowledge of, Epstein’s ongoing sex trafficking operations or criminal activities,” the statement continued.
