I’ve always thought of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates as one of those rare billionaire friendships that actually seemed to make the world better.
They joked together on stage, appeared in goofy videos, and quietly moved billions of dollars into vaccines and poverty programs. It never crossed my mind that Jeffrey Epstein’s name would be what finally came between them.
Now Buffett is publicly saying that he has not spoken with Gates “at all since the whole thing was unveiled” and that he is not sure he will keep sending billions to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. That was Buffett’s own description in a recent sit‑down with CNBC’s Becky Quick.
For anyone who cares about philanthropy, governance, and reputational risk, it is a jarring moment: The Oracle of Omaha is telling the world he is no longer sure where his money should go because of what he has learned about his old friend’s ties to Epstein.
What Buffett actually said about Bill Gates and Jeffrey Epstein
In his new interview with CNBC, Buffett did not sound like someone eager to distance himself with a fiery denunciation. He sounded like someone who had decided that silence and distance were safer than being drawn into a scandal he did not create.
Buffett said he has not talked to Gates “since the whole thing was unveiled,” referring to the release of Epstein‑related documents that shed more light on Gates’s meetings and correspondence with the disgraced financier.
That was how he put it in his first televised comments on the matter. He added that he does not want to be “in the position where I know things” because he could be called as a witness, a line that shows just how carefully he is thinking about legal and reputational exposure.
Related: Bank of America will pay $72.5M to settle lawsuit by Epstein victims
On his donations, Buffett’s language was cautious but pointed. He told CNBC he would “wait and see what unfolds” when asked if he would continue giving to the Gates Foundation.
He stressed that he had not made a final decision and did not need to decide immediately, but he also noted, “I’ve learned some things I didn’t know about this situation after all these years.”
At the same time, Buffett said he does not regret the billions he has already donated to the foundation. He argued that the organization has deployed money to good effect and that “it’s not like they were stealing money for themselves,” an assessment in an earlier CNBC interview recapped by CNN Business.
The tension is clear. He stands by the impact of past giving, but he is no longer certain that future money should automatically follow the same path.
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Why Buffett is taking this stance now on Gates’ ties to Epstein
To understand why Buffett is taking this stance now, you have to look at how Gates’ relationship with Epstein has come into focus in stages.
In 2019, Gates met with Epstein multiple times starting in 2011, The New York Times reported. This includes at least three visits to Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse that stretched late into the night.
That investigation also found that Gates’ foundation staff visited Epstein’s home and that Epstein pitched them on a giant donor‑advised fund that could have generated fees for him.
At the time, Gates’ spokesperson said he “regrets meeting with Epstein and recognizes it was an error in judgment,” while insisting that Epstein never handled any foundation money.
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More detailed emails became public this year. Epstein pitched Gates on a special donor‑advised fund for billionaires and proposed that Gates use his New York travel to help drum up business, positioning Epstein as a sort of philanthropic fixer, according to Inside Philanthropy.
Gates’ team told Inside Philanthropy that “multiple high‑profile people suggested that Bill Gates meet with Epstein” because he claimed he could unlock more money for charity, and that Gates agreed to meet “multiple times to discuss philanthropy and the work of his foundation.”
Gates has been on an extended apology tour inside his own organization. Gates “took responsibility” for his relationship with Epstein in a staff town hall earlier this year, apologized, and said, ‘I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,’” while calling the association a “huge mistake,” said BBC News.
The Gates Foundation later emphasized that only a small number of staff had contact with Epstein, that no fund was ever created, and that he never received money from the foundation.
A donor’s red line on reputational risk
If you zoom out from the personalities, Buffett is doing something every major donor and board member has to think about when scandal hits. He’s deciding whether the good an institution does outweighs the reputational risk of staying close.
Buffett has been one of the Gates Foundation’s biggest backers. Since 2006, he has given more than $43 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock to the foundation, making up a large share of its assets. That cumulative total comes from CNBC’s tally of his annual gifts.
He originally told Bill and Melinda Gates in 2006 that he had made an “irrevocable pledge” to keep donating Berkshire shares throughout his life and through his estate, as long as one of them remained actively involved and the foundation continued to use the funds effectively.
The tone has shifted. In 2024, Buffett said his donations to the Gates Foundation would end when he dies and that 99.5% of his remaining wealth would flow instead into a charitable trust overseen by his children, Reuters reported.
Now he is publicly saying he will not commit to more giving before he sees how the Epstein fallout is handled, a change Reuters summarized as Buffett “declin[ing] to commit” to continuing his annual multibillion‑dollar donations.
There’s also the human side of a 30‑year friendship buckling under the weight of new information. Buffett said, “I haven’t talked to him at all since the whole thing was unveiled,” and explained that he prefers not to know details that might make him a witness, according to Fortune.
Here are a few key facts that frame the fallout so far.
- Buffett has given more than $43 billion in Berkshire stock to the Gates Foundation since 2006.
- Epstein met with Gates and some foundation staff multiple times starting in 2011, often at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse.
- Gates has called the relationship a “huge mistake” and told staff he “did nothing illicit” and “saw nothing illicit” around Epstein.
What I think everyday readers can take from Buffett’s handling of Gates fallout
It is easy to see the Buffett-Gates-Epstein saga as billionaire drama far away from your life. I don’t think it is.
If you give money to a charity, sit on a local board, or just follow how big foundations shape public health and education, this story is a reminder that character and governance matter as much as glossy impact reports.
The Gates Foundation still funds vaccine programs, disease eradication campaigns, and poverty‑fighting efforts that experts say save and improve millions of lives. That track record is real, as public health reporting and Gates’ own annual letters have documented for years.
At the same time, the Epstein revelations show how fast trust can erode when a leader’s private decisions conflict with an institution’s stated values. Buffett’s hesitation is a kind of risk assessment that any thoughtful donor should appreciate. He is saying, in effect, “I still believe in the work, but I need to know more before I keep tying my name and money to this.”
For you and me, the takeaway is simpler. When we decide whom to trust with our money, time, or reputation, we are making the same kind of calculation, just on a smaller scale.
We weigh the impact we hope to see against the behavior of the people in charge. We ask ourselves whether a mistake is a one‑time lapse or a pattern.
Seeing someone as cautious as Buffett put his foot on the brake tells me that those questions are not just for regulators or journalists. They are for all of us.
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