Warren Buffett says he has avoided Bill Gates since the Epstein files came out

Warren Buffett said he has not spoken to Bill Gates since documents detailing Gates’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein began to surface, citing concern about potential legal exposure.

“I haven’t talked to him at all since the whole thing was unveiled,” Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick on “Squawk Box.” “I don’t want to be in a position where I know things … to be called as a witness.” The Berkshire Hathaway $BRK.B +0.18% chairman added: “I don’t want to be under oath.”

Related Content

Delta Air Lines is turning to Amazon for high-speed in-flight WiFi

JPMorgan Chase pledges $80 billion to small businesses in ‘American Dream’ push

Buffett spoke warmly about his personal friendship with Gates but said, “I think until it gets cleared up, it doesn’t make sense to do a lot of talking.” The comments were his first public remarks about Gates since the Epstein files were released.

Asked about Epstein himself, Buffett called him an extraordinary manipulator. “That guy must have been the con man of all time,” he said. “Men are going to like sex … and some of them are going to like not paying taxes, and he figured out their weaknesses.” Buffett also said Gates could have arranged a meeting between the two men but did not. “I got him to thank for not doing that,” Buffett said.

Buffett has donated more than $43 billion to the Gates Foundation since 2006. He and Gates also co-founded The Giving Pledge, an effort to encourage the world’s wealthiest people to commit much of their wealth to philanthropy.

Since late 2025, a tranche of documents — including emails and photographs — has emerged through congressional and Justice Department disclosures, shedding light on the extent of the relationship between Gates and Epstein. The two men’s friendship began in 2011, more than three years after Epstein had entered a guilty plea in Florida on a state charge of soliciting prostitution from a minor.

Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal reported that Gates stood before Gates Foundation employees and offered an apology for his ties to Epstein, while also disclosing that he had conducted affairs with two Russian women — information Epstein had come to possess. Speaking at that same gathering, Gates declared, “I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” according to the Journal.

The House Oversight Committee extended an invitation to Gates to appear before lawmakers and answer questions about his Epstein connections; Gates agreed to the request in early March, though no hearing date has been announced. In a statement, a Gates spokesperson said he “welcomes the opportunity to appear before the Committee” and expressed eagerness to answer lawmakers’ questions. The spokesperson also noted that Gates “never witnessed or participated in any of Epstein’s illegal conduct” and described the committee’s inquiry as “important work.”

📬 Sign up for the Daily Brief

Our free, fast and fun briefing on the global economy, delivered every weekday morning.

Sign me up