The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is preparing to cut roughly 20% of its workforce while ordering an outside review of Bill Gates’ past ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The layoffs, outlined in an internal email to staff, come as the foundation tries to stabilize operations amid renewed scrutiny over Gates’ relationship with Epstein and how the organization vetted outside contacts.
CEO Mark Suzman told employees he has commissioned an external review of the foundation’s engagement with Epstein, along with a broader look at internal policies for screening and developing new philanthropic partnerships.
“This is a challenging time for our organization in many ways, but it also highlights the critical importance of taking the tough actions now,” Suzman wrote, according to the Journal. The paper reported the foundation expects to provide an update on the review this summer.
The foundation’s internal turmoil sharpened earlier this year after the Justice Department released emails showing correspondence between Epstein and foundation staffers. Those materials also included photographs showing Bill Gates alongside Epstein, as well as images of Gates with women whose faces were redacted, according to the report.
In February, the foundation said it never made financial payments to Epstein and did not employ him in any capacity. The organization also said it regretted any contact between staff and the disgraced financier.
“Mr Gates – do you have anything further to say following your name being released in the Epstein files last night?”
Bill Gates questioned about his Jeffrey Epstein Association, and claims he drugged his wife, while in Australia. pic.twitter.com/hrkBqZYc2U
— conspiracybot (@conspiracyb0t) April 21, 2026
During a town hall meeting with foundation staff that same month, a spokesperson told Reuters that Gates “took responsibility for his actions” concerning his ties to Epstein.
Gates has said his relationship with Epstein was limited to philanthropic matters and has acknowledged meeting with him was a mistake. He has also denied any contact with victims of Epstein’s sexual abuse.
Still, the controversy has not cooled. A recent release of Epstein-related files included a 2013 email described as being written in the voice of one of Gates’ top advisers, Boris Nikolic, but sent only to Epstein. In that email, Epstein wrote that the Microsoft co-founder was trying “to get drugs in order to deal with consequences of sex with Russian girls.”
The same email claimed Gates had asked for antibiotics so he could secretly drug his then-wife, Melinda Gates, according to the report.
The email appeared to be notes Epstein drafted for Nikolic amid an alleged dispute, the report said. It included a message framed in Nikolic’s voice that began: “I cannot believe that you have chosen to disregard our friendship” and accused Gates of asking him “to be the major actor in a cover up so that you can maintain the reputation that you have worked so hard to achieve.”
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