Although Bill Gates and Warren Buffett will forever be remembered as two of the world's richest men, and for giving huge sums of their vast fortune to charity, there's a suggestion that they're both about to part ways.
95-year-old Buffett has spoken out on Gates' repeated connections to the controversial Epstein files, as well as his continuously documented relationship with the shamed financier.
Bill Gates was among a number of high-profile tech names who'd previously been linked to Jeffrey Epstein, and while he's continued to maintain his innocence, he was drawn back into the scandal amid claims he's caught an STD from 'Russian girls'. Gates spoke out in the aftermath, while ex-wife Melinda French Gates also said her bit.
There's been further backlash against Gates and his various ventures, with PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel telling fellow billionaires to stop donating to The Giving Pledge. Founded by Bill, Melinda, and Warren Buffett in 2010, The Giving Pledge encourages the world's richest to donate more than 50% of their wealth to philanthropic causes.
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Following Gates again being mentioned in the same sentence as Epstein, Buffett has confirmed whether he's been in touch with the Microsoft co-founder.
Speaking to CNBC, Buffett reiterated: "I haven’t talked to him at all since the whole thing was unveiled. I don’t want to be in the position where I know things. I could get called as a witness."
When asked if he was still friends with Gates, Buffett admitted that he had fond memories of their personal relationship and work on The Giving Pledge, but suggested he'll keep his distance: "I think until it gets cleared up, it doesn’t make sense to do a lot of talking. I don’t want to be under oath."
It's been noted that Buffett has donated more than $43 billion to the Gates Foundation since 2006, with CNBC's Becky Quick pushing him on whether he'll keep donating.
Here, the former Berkshire Hathaway CEO admitted, "I’ll wait and see what unfolds. The stock isn’t going anyplace. It isn’t like I’m giving it all the way to something else or won’t have it."
Still, he doesn't sound like he'll be rushing into it as he added: "I don’t have to make that decision today, and I haven’t made it today."
It's said that Gates first crossed paths with Epstein in 2011, some three years after the latter pleaded guilty to soliciting an underage girl for prostitution.
Buffett spoke at length about Epstein, telling Quick his thoughts on the emails mentioning Gates: "I won’t say what I thought about them, particularly related to Bill Gates, but I would say it’s astounding to me how human people are...
"Here you had a guy that was a convicted guy, a sensational con man, and the percentage of people that he knocked off. I mean, whether it was, he found their weakness, it might have been sex.
“It might be power, it might be, whatever it might be. And I don’t see how anybody could have pulled that off."
Referring to Epstein as the 'con man of all time', Buffett concluded that he's relieved their paths didn't cross: "I’m just I’m so happy the guy didn’t, that he didn’t stop in Omaha ever. I mean, or that I didn’t live in New York. If I lived in New York, I had some party. I would have been at some thing I think."
As for Gates, he's accepted an invitation from the House Oversight Committee to testify about his relationship with Epstein. Although it's yet to be scheduled, a spokesperson for Gates said he 'welcomes' the opportunity to appear and maintained: "While he never witnessed or participated in any of Epstein’s illegal conduct, he is looking forward to answering all the committee’s questions to support their important work."