New emails show Epstein’s ties to MIT donations from Bill Gates, Leon Black, previously missed by 2020 investigation
Epstein helped coordinate a $5 million gift to MIT from private equity investor Leon Black
News Staff–The Tech
New emails in the Epstein Library released by the U.S. Department of Justice appear to contradict Bill Gates’s statement in the Goodwin Procter report that Jeffrey Epstein had nothing to do with his donations to MIT. The report was the culmination of the Institute’s investigation into its ties with the convicted sex offender in 2020.
The new records, part of the Justice Department’s release in January led by Rep. Thomas Massie ’93 SM ’96 (R-KY) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), indicate that Epstein met and coordinated with top advisors to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on donations to MIT.
Email correspondence also shows that Epstein helped coordinate a $5 million dollar gift to the Institute from Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black, which has not been previously reported. The 2020 Goodwin Procter report stated that while Black has “publicly acknowledged donating to charities ‘affiliated’ with Epstein,” he did not address “whether Epstein asked him to donate to MIT.”
In 2014, Epstein claimed to have organized a $2 million dollar anonymous gift to MIT from Gates and a $5 million dollar anonymous gift from Black. But the 2020 report notably left many questions on the veracity of these claims unanswered.
Bill Gates
According to the 2020 report, representatives of Bill Gates told Goodwin Procter that support “for MIT and the Media Lab” from “Mr. Gates and various Gates-related entities” had “always been completely independent of Mr. Epstein.”
Yet several email exchanges from 2012 to 2014 offer a different account. One email chain from October 2014 between Epstein and Larry Cohen, a top Gates advisor who serves as the CEO of Gates Ventures and on the board of Khan Academy, has the subject “Re: MIT.”
In the chain, Cohen wrote to Epstein to “let them know we are prepping letter, etc and wire will go 3rd of Nov,” with “them” referring to the Institute.
Later, Epstein replied to describe a call he had with Boris Nikolic, another Gates advisor. He wrote that Nikolic spoke for an hour with Mike Larson — who oversees all investments for Gates and the Gates Foundation Trust and serves as Chief Investment Officer of Cascade Asset Management — and was told that “Bill could not be more than 25 percent of the fund.”
Both Cohen and Epstein were surprised by this news, with Cohen asking Epstein where Nikolic and Larson could have spoken, to which Epstein responded, “yesterday face to face new york?”
In another set of emails from November 2014, Epstein asked Cohen about the status of the donation to MIT.
“did mit get donation. confirm of breakfast. did your guys set up supporting orgs. im around tomorow afternoon,” Epstein wrote.
Cohen replied a day later to say that the wire would be “released any day” and that “they know it’s coming” so it was “all fine.” He added that while there were no supporting organizations yet, those were “coming together as well.”
Correspondence between former MIT Media Lab Director Joi Ito and Epstein from January 2014 also referenced Gates.
Epstein wrote to Ito that “Gates is going to be at TED” and that “I suggest we set aside two to three hours” to “discuss giving at the billion dollar level” and its unique issues.
Ito copied LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and replied, “Let’s definitely do that. Jeffrey, do you need a hotel room? I’ve got an extra one that I’m holding if you need one. Can you help us set up a time with Bill?”
Earlier, in 2012, emails between Epstein and Nikolic show the latter responding to an invitation from Epstein to visit his ranch.
Nikolic wrote that he cannot make it due to him “leaving for Boston” to meet with Gates and organize “meetings with the best and brightest from MIT.” Nikolic added that he will visit the ranch “next time for sure.”
An email from 2011 also indicated an in-person meeting between Gates, Nikolic, and Epstein in Gates’ office, although the subject of the meeting was not revealed.
Leon Black
The 2020 Goodwin Procter report did not conclusively address whether Epstein’s claim that he coordinated a $5 million dollar gift to MIT from Leon Black was true.
According to an Axios article from 2020, Goodwin Procter’s lead investigator Roberto Braceras was “unable to connect” with Leon Black’s representatives. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Leon Black asserted that “no one from the investigation” contacted Black and that suggestions that Black did not cooperate with the MIT investigation were “categorically false.”
Black’s finances from 2014 to 2015 were also explicitly revealed through several documents in the new trove of files, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Documents in the Epstein Library from 2014 to 2015 confirmed an anonymous donation of $5 million dollars from the Leon Black Family Foundation to the MIT Media Lab. They also appeared to confirm Epstein’s involvement.
Emails from May 2015 between Ito, former MIT Media Lab Director of Development and Strategy Peter Cohen, and Epstein discuss whether Black’s donation to the Institute should be anonymous or made public.
Cohen told Ito that Institute administration needed to “know if Leon wants to be an anonymous donor to MIT.” “Can you ask Jeffrey to ask Leon that? We can make it anonymous easily, unless Leon would like the credit,” he wrote.
Cohen added, “If Jeffrey tells you that Leon would like a little love from MIT, we can arrange that too, but right now no one will attempt to visit him, including the president.” Ito then forwarded the message to Epstein.
An email from October 2015 from Ito to Epstein showed Ito confirming receipt of the first $1 million dollars from Black and then stating that he is “waiting” for the other $4 million by the end of the year.
Later, emails from November 2015 showed administration informing Ito that Black’s pledge payment was due before the end of 2015, and asking Ito how he wanted a reminder to be handled.
Ito then forwarded this email chain to Epstein and asked Epstein about the status of the pledge. Epstein responded shortly, writing “send remindr.”
These revelations represent just the latest developments in regards to Epstein’s extensive ties with academic fundraising revealed by the latest trove of DOJ records.