Warren Buffett: I have cut ties with Gates and prefer not to comment on this matter.

(Source: The Observer)

According to a report by Global Times citing the website of U.S. business magazine Fortune on March 31, U.S. investor Warren Buffett said that since documents related to late convicted criminal Jeffrey Epstein were released, he has cut off contact with Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft. The report said this is the first time Buffett has publicly addressed the matter.

The report said Buffett, 95 years old, told during an interview with CNBC (the U.S. Consumer News and Business Channel): “Ever since the whole incident was exposed, I haven’t contacted him at all. I don’t want to find myself in a situation where I could be called to testify.” Buffett also said that “until the matter is resolved,” he does not want to make too many comments on the topic.

According to Buffett, he has never had any dealings with Epstein and has never met the man. He believes that because he has lived for a long time in Omaha, Nebraska, he had no opportunity to run into Epstein in social settings in New York. He said that if he lived in New York and went to parties, he might have encountered him. Buffett referred to Epstein as “one of the most successful con artists in history.” “I can hardly believe that someone could be so successful at scamming,” he said.

Fortune said Buffett and Gates—two of the former world’s richest people—began their friendship in 1991. The two later worked closely together in the field of philanthropy, involving the Gates Foundation and the launch of the “Giving Pledge” initiative. Since 2006, Buffett has donated more than $43 billion to the Gates Foundation, accounting for nearly half of the foundation’s total fundraising. In recent years, their relationship has cooled: Buffett stepped down from the board of the Gates Foundation in 2021, and in 2024 he announced that he would withdraw his decision to donate his estate to the foundation.

As previously reported, on February 24 Bill Gates apologized to Gates Foundation employees for his relationship with Epstein, admitting that during the course of his marriage he had had extramarital affairs with two Russian women, while also insisting that he had not been involved in Epstein’s criminal conduct. Bill Gates also said he regrets knowing Epstein, denied the allegations in the latest documents, and said the emails written by Epstein are false and untrue.

The day before, Melinda, the 61-year-old ex-wife of Bill Gates, spoke out for the first time, saying that the details from the Epstein file brought back painful memories of her previous marriage, and urging her ex-husband to respond.

In the latest documents of the Epstein case recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bill Gates’s name appears prominently. Melinda said that seeing her ex-husband’s name made her feel “unbearable sadness.”

Original headline: Buffett: Has cut off contact with Gates and doesn’t want to comment on this

Chief of the column: Shen Qinhan Text editor: Yu Runkun Title image source: Xinhua News Agency

Source: Author: Su Lishi

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