Jeffrey Epstein Met Privately with Bill Gates and Peter Thiel to ‘Rebuild His Reputation’ Through Philanthropy

A manuscript buried in the millions of files released by the US Department of Justice under the Epstein Transparency Act, authored by American journalist Michael Wolff, alleges that Jeffrey Epstein’s background role as a “key advisor” to Bill Gates led him to counsel the Microsoft co-founder on the future of the Gates Foundation at a meeting with Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel and right-wing media mogul Mortimer Zuckerman.

The account suggests that Epstein saw his advisory support to Gates on philanthropy, apparently discussed at the meeting with Thiel and Zuckerman, as a way to “rebuild” his reputation.

It also suggests that Gates had long encouraged Epstein to speak with Wolff as a way to “get out in front” of Epstein’s public association with him.

The Microsoft co-founder has denied having a personal friendship or business relationship with Epstein, or that he ever socialised or attended parties with him, following revelations that the convicted sex offender was Gates’ “key advisor” on philanthropy, and had privately proposed a blueprint for a new Gates Foundation “donor-advised fund” at his Manhattan townhouse.

A spokesperson for Gates confirmed that the Microsoft co-founder had met Epstein “multiple times” to discuss philanthropy and the Gates Foundation. Peter Thiel’s apparent presence at the Epstein meeting will raise further questions about his company Palantir’s extensive contracts with the UK Government, which has severed ties with Peter Mandelson over revelations of his extensive ties with the convicted child sex offender.

Michael Wolff, the author of the unpublished manuscript, describes the alleged meeting between Epstein, Gates, Thiel and Zuckerman as follows:

A week in late September – UN week as it happened – begins, over Sunday lunch, with Gates, Mort Zuckerman, the long-time New York Daily News owner, and Peter Thiel, the PayPal co-founder and Silicon Valley eminence.

The passage presents the gathering as the opening move in a curated week of high-level encounters at Epstein’s residence. Wolff does not specify a year, but the reference to “UN week” places the scene squarely within the annual convergence of heads of state, financiers and global power brokers around the United Nations General Assembly.

A separate email sent to Epstein on Thursday 18 September 2014 suggests that Thiel was planning to meet Epstein for lunch that Sunday.

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A Gates Foundation Proposal

According to the draft, Epstein convened the meeting between Thiel, Gates and Zuckerman around a concrete proposal tied directly to Gates’ philanthropic empire:

The subject is Epstein’s concept for the Gates Foundation of what he calls a ‘donor advised fund’, which would allow Gates, who has thought harder and more deeply about giving away money than anyone else in the world, to lend the Gates expertise to other billionaires who are struggling with the vast complexities of giving away ‘hyper wealth.’

In Wolff’s telling, Epstein is not merely present as a facilitator, but as the originator of a plan designed to extend the Gates Foundation’s influence outward, effectively positioning Gates’ approach to global philanthropy as a template for other ultra-wealthy donors.

Elsewhere in the same draft, Wolff writes that “Epstein has become a key advisor” to Bill Gates, proposing to leverage “the resources of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to accommodate many other fortunes, so that, Epstein explains, ‘you might join 50 or 60 billionaires on one giving project.’”

Wolff’s manuscript appears to be based largely on interviews with Epstein himself. The draft adds that Epstein’s decision to grant Wolff such unprecedented access around 2002 was:

… a Gates-encouraged effort to get ‘out in front’ of the notice that might be expected to greet Gates’ public association with him… He [Epstein] hoped that, six years after his release from prison, he could begin to rebuild his public reputation.

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Thiel

Peter Thiel’s alleged presence at the private meeting in Jeffrey Epstein’s home raises further questions.

As co-founder of Palantir, Thiel has built data-analysis systems for intelligence agencies, the military, immigration enforcement and police forces. Last year, it emerged that Thiel had advised Elon Musk to opt out of the ‘Giving Pledge’, launched in 2010 by Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates and Warren Buffet, as an invitation to the world’s billionaires to give away at least half of their wealth to charity.

Byline Times previously revealed a 2016 email to a potential investor from former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak – at that time partnered with Epstein on a joint cybersecurity venture – claiming that Epstein “owned” a Valar Ventures investment fund with Peter Thiel.

Thiel’s spokesman denied Barak’s co-ownership claim but confirmed Epstein was a limited partner in the Thiel-controlled fund. Epstein’s involvement began in 2014, after Thiel personally arranged for two Valar Ventures executives to meet with Epstein at his home in December that year.

Since then, newly released emails from the Epstein files show multiple meetings and lunches between Thiel and Epstein, including one at Thiel’s office – and ongoing email contact – from 2013 to 2019. In May 2016, after learning of Thiel’s secret funding of a lawsuit against Gawker Media (after they outed him as gay), Epstein emailed Thiel: “I would have gladly share [sic] your expenses for the gawker suit.”

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Zuckerman

Also allegedly present at the lunch was Mortimer Zuckerman, whose Daily News published coverage of Epstein that, according to other documents released by the US Department of Justice, was influenced by Epstein himself to water-down the newspaper’s reporting on him.

In another passage from the draft, Wolff captures the atmosphere around Epstein’s social gatherings, quoting Zuckerman directly:

The question is why, in the face of such disgrace, with the paparazzi so near, the high and mighty still come? Perhaps simply that it’s intelligence of a high order… ‘That’s Jeffrey,’ says Mort Zuckerman, (whose paper, the Daily News, is ever vitriolic in its coverage of Epstein), with a twinkle in his eye.

The draft does not state which year the alleged meeting took place. Michael Wolff confirmed to Byline Times his authorship of what he described as “an early draft of a possible piece”, but emphasised it was “not for publication” as its contents, much of which appear to have been recounted to him by Epstein himself, were “unvetted” and “not fact-checked”.

Notably, a slightly different version of the unpublished draft was released by the House Oversight Committee last year. That version similarly described a meeting between Thiel, Gates, Zuckerman and Epstein at the child sex offender’s home, but did not say what it was about.

A spokesperson for Bill Gates told Byline Times:

“Multiple high-profile people suggested that Bill Gates meet with Epstein because he made claims of being able to bring billions of dollars into philanthropy based on his status as an agent and advisor to wealthy individuals with respect to their giving strategies. Given the prospect of helping catalyse significant increases in charitable giving, Gates met with Epstein and others multiple times to discuss philanthropy and the work of his foundation. Although Epstein pursued Gates aggressively, Gates had absolutely no business partnership or personal friendship with Epstein. Gates never socialised with Epstein or attended parties with him.  It’s become clear that Epstein misrepresented the nature of his meetings with Gates while also working to insert himself behind-the-scenes without Gates’ knowledge. Gates regrets ever meeting with Epstein and recognises it was an error in judgement to do so.”

Peter Thiel and Mortimer Zuckerman did not respond to requests for comment.