Buffett was candid about why he hasn’t reached out: “I don’t want to be in a position where I know things … to be called as a witness,” he said.
A spokesperson for Bill Gates provided the following comment to Moneywise: “Gates has acknowledged it was a serious error in judgment to meet with Epstein. As he’s stated before, he is committed to answering all questions and demonstrating that he was never a part of Epstein’s criminal activity.”
Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway did not immediately respond to Moneywise’s inquiries.
Gates and Buffett: What’s at stake
A true rift between Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, two of the wealthiest men on the planet and biggest names in both business and philanthropy, could have major financial implications. Buffett has donated more than $43 billion to the Gates Foundation since 2006, the philanthropic organization co-founded by Gates and his ex-wife Melinda French Gates (1).
In his talk with CNBC, Buffett declined to confirm whether he would make his regular annual donation to the foundation in June, saying he wants to see how things unfold first. He was also careful not to question the foundation’s work itself. He told CNN the money had gone to meaningful initiatives (3), adding that the foundation wasn’t misusing funds. But his hesitation to commit on a pledge once considered ironclad is still worth noting.
A friendship built over decades
Buffett and Gates first met in 1991 at a gathering organized by Gates’s mother, Mary (4). The two hit it off almost instantly, building a decades-long friendship that included co-founding The Giving Pledge (5), an initiative encouraging the world’s wealthiest individuals to commit the majority of their fortunes to philanthropy.
Buffett spoke fondly of that history (6), sharing memories of Gates as a thoughtful host. But he drew a hard line at the present. “I think until it gets cleared up, it doesn’t make sense to do a lot of talking,” he said.
Buffett also acknowledged that Gates could have easily pulled him into Epstein’s orbit. Gates never invited Buffett to meet Epstein (1), something Buffett said he was grateful for, noting that Gates “could have done things that would have screwed up my life, and I would have gone along with him.”
The Epstein connection
The so-called Epstein files — documents, testimony, and communications released by the DOJ under the Epstein Files Transparency Act signed by President Trump in November 2025 — have cast a harsh spotlight on Gates’s relationship with the disgraced financier (7). Among the allegations, as reported by Fortune (8), are that Gates had an affair with Mila Antonova, a Russian bridge player, during his marriage — and that he gave Epstein permission to act as a fixer in negotiating executive departures at the Gates Foundation and Microsoft.
Gates reportedly apologized to Gates Foundation staff in February (1) for his association with Epstein, admitted to having affairs with two Russian women during his marriage, and maintained that he never witnessed or participated in any illegal conduct. In February, a spokesperson for Gates told the BBC (9) that some of the more inflammatory claims in the documents were “absolutely absurd and completely false,” adding they originated from a “proven disgruntled liar.”
