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 -0.24% chairman said. “I don’t want to be under oath.”

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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.” Tuesday’s interview marked the first time Buffett addressed the Gates-Epstein matter publicly.

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’s philanthropic ties to Gates run deep — his contributions to the Gates Foundation have exceeded $43 billion over roughly the past two decades. Together, the two men launched The Giving Pledge, the initiative calling on billionaires to dedicate the majority of their fortunes to charitable causes.

The picture of Gates’s ties to Epstein has grown sharper in recent months through federal and legislative document releases — including emails and photographs — that brought the extent of their relationship into public view. Their acquaintance dates to 2011, a period that came well after Epstein’s 2008 Florida conviction on charges related to the solicitation of a minor.

According to earlier Wall Street Journal reporting, Gates used a Foundation staff meeting to acknowledge both his Epstein connection and two extramarital affairs with Russian women that Epstein had apparently discovered. He also used the occasion to defend himself, telling staff he had neither engaged in nor witnessed any wrongdoing, the Journal reported.

Gates has signaled his willingness to face congressional scrutiny, confirming in early March that he would cooperate with the House Oversight Committee’s inquiry into his Epstein ties, though no hearing date has been set. 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.”

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