Warren Buffett recently revealed he hasn’t spoken to Bill Gates since the Jeffrey Epstein files started getting unveiled. Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick on Squawk Box that he doesn’t want to be in a position where he knows things, potentially leading to him being called as a witness in any investigations. This is a pretty big deal, considering Buffett has donated over $43 billion to the Gates Foundation since 2006.
According to CNBC, Buffett, the Berkshire Hathaway chairman, spoke quite a bit about Epstein himself, calling him an “astounding” con man. He genuinely believes Epstein figured out people’s weaknesses, like their desire for sex or avoiding taxes, and exploited them.
“That guy must have been the con man of all time,” Buffett said, adding that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein “had a way of conning everybody.” He even expressed gratitude that Gates never invited him to New York to meet Epstein. “I got him to thank for not doing that,” Buffett noted.
Buffett seems to be erring on the side of caution with his decision to stay disconnected
While Buffett spoke fondly of his personal relationship with Gates, which included co-founding The Giving Pledge — an initiative that encourages the world’s wealthiest people to donate much of their fortunes to philanthropy — he made it clear that communication is on hold. “I think until it gets cleared up, it doesn’t make sense to do a lot of talking,” Buffett explained, emphasizing his desire to avoid being “under oath.”
These are Buffett’s first public comments on Gates since the whole Epstein files saga became known. The release of the Epstein documents has brought a lot of scrutiny to Gates.
He reportedly became friends with Epstein in 2011, which was three years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting an underage girl for prostitution in Florida. The documents, totaling more than three million pages, released by the Department of Justice and Congress since late 2025, contain numerous emails and photos detailing their friendship.
Gates faces a long list of accusations after his name came up in the Epstein files
Some of the accusations Gates has faced due to these documents are pretty serious. He allegedly had an affair with Mila Antonova, a Russian bridge player, during his marriage to his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates.
There are also claims that Gates gave Epstein permission to act as a “fixer” to help negotiate the exit of Boris Nikolic, who was the chief science advisor for the Gates Foundation and at Gates’ investment firm, then called BgC3. Nikolic ended up receiving a $5 million exit package. Epstein also reportedly played a role in the exit negotiation for Microsoft Windows president Steven Sinofsky, who received $14 million from the company, and for which Epstein allegedly received a $1 million fee.
Gates, for his part, apologized to staff at the Gates Foundation in February for his association with Epstein. He also admitted to having affairs with two Russian women, which Epstein apparently learned about, according to earlier reports. At the same event, Gates maintained that he “did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit.”
The Gates Foundation has also weighed in, stating that a small number of its employees interacted with Epstein to try and secure potential funding for their philanthropic work. However, the foundation clarified that “at no time were financial payments made by the foundation to Epstein, nor was he employed by the foundation at any time.”
Aiming towards looking ahead, the Microsoft founder accepted an invitation from the House Oversight Committee in early March to testify about his dealings with Epstein. That appearance hasn’t been scheduled yet, but a spokesperson for Gates confirmed he “welcomes the opportunity to appear before the Committee.”
The spokesperson added that while Gates “never witnessed or participated in any of Epstein’s illegal conduct, he is looking forward to answering all the committee’s questions to support their important work.” It seems like we’ll be hearing a lot more about this as things unfold.
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