Warren Buffett uses VERY choice word for Bill Gates' Epstein links as billionaire reveals why he's stopped donating to Microsoft tycoon's foundation

By LAUREN ACTON-TAYLOR, US NEWS REPORTER Published: 02:01, 16 July 2026 | Updated: 02:01, 16 July 2026 Warren Buffett, chairman and former CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, carefully declared Bill Gates's ties to Jeffrey Epstein as 'distasteful' after dodging his annual donation to the Gates Foundation.  Buffett, 95, sat down with CNBC on Wednesday where he downplayed the Microsoft tycoon's relationship with the convicted sex-offender as a mistake he too could have made himself.  'While it's distasteful, while he made mistakes, I made mistakes, hiring all kinds of people, or choosing friends, and then finding out later that, one way or other, they weren't who I thought they were,' Buffett told the outlet.  'I found nothing in there that was beyond what I could picture myself doing.' 'No one bats a thousand in the business of choosing people,' he added.  Buffett told the outlet that he had 'read a great deal' on Gates's and Epstein's relationship since January, noting that Gates eventually cut ties with the sex-offender.   The remarks followed Buffett's announcement on Tuesday that he would be donating the remainder of his money to family foundations. His children will oversee how it's being spent. Buffett expressed hopes that his children would distribute his Berkshire Hathaway shares over the upcoming eight years.  Warren Buffett, 95, sat down with CNBC on Wednesday where he downplayed the Microsoft tycoon's relationship with the convicted sex-offender as a mistake he could have made himself Bill Gates, seen with his ex-wife Melinda, claimed that he and Epstein's relationship never extended beyond meetings between 2011 and 2014 to discuss donors to his foundation Bill Gates' relationship with Epstein was thrust back into the spotlight last year when the DOJ released a tranche of documents containing emails and photos of the two Subsequently, Buffett skipped his annual donation to the Gates Foundation - a choice he avoided tying to Gates's relationship to Epstein.  He explained that Gates expressed no surprise by his decision, and the pair had spent hours in discussion just weeks ago in Omaha.  Gates claimed that he and Epstein's relationship never extended beyond meeting several times between 2011 and 2014 to discuss donors to his foundation, and that he hadn't been aware of his ongoing crimes.  In a statement, Gates described Buffett as 'one of the greatest philanthropists of all time, and a dear friend' and someone he hopes to spend more time with in the future.  'His wisdom, generosity, and deep sense of purpose have defined both his life and his philanthropy. His support for the Gates Foundation, at nearly $50 billion over the past twenty years, has been unprecedented, and it has helped save millions of lives,' the statement continued.  In February, Gates apologized to staff over his ties to the disgraced financier during a town hall meeting at the Gates Foundation. The billionaire told employees it had been a 'huge mistake' to spend time with Epstein and to involve foundation executives in meetings with the convicted sex offender, according to a Wall Street Journal report. 'I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made,' Gates said. In February, Gates apologized to staff over his ties to the disgraced financier during a town hall meeting at the Gates Foundation He acknowledged having two affairs with Russian women that Epstein later became aware of, but stressed they did not involve any of Epstein's victims. 'I did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities,' Gates said. 'I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,' he added. 'To be clear, I never spent any time with the victims, the women around him.' Buffett had previously said he would cease his donations to the Gates Foundation following his death; at which point his $140 billion fortune would fall in the hands of his children.  His decision to accelerate the distribution of his shares would see his annual donations jump to more than $17 billion.  Currently, Buffett donates around $6 billion to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and the foundations his children run: the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G Buffett Foundation and the Novo Foundation.  The billionaire also said that upon his death, a new foundation would be created to distribute the rest of his shares and his children would have to unanimously agree on where to donate them.  The quickened pace of Buffett's plan to give away his fortune over the next eight years - rather than doing it over the ten years following his death - will mean that his successor at Berkshire Hathaway, Greg Abel, won't be able to count on the support of Buffett's family as the company's biggest shareholder for as long as he thought. Buffett announced on Tuesday that he would be donating the remainder of his money to family foundations for his children to oversee how it's being spent. Buffett currently controls nearly 30% of the voting power with his 188,290 Class A shares. Yet, Buffett said he believes it's clear that Abel is the right man to lead the conglomerate he built, and 'that becomes more evident by the day.' However, Buffett noted that Berkshire's big investment in Google's parent company, which has grown in value considerably over the past year, is one he initiated, though Abel did agree on it.  Just last month, Berkshire agreed to invest another $10 billion in Alphabet after previously tripling its stake in the company.