Billionaire Elon Musk and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates are among the high-profile names appearing in newly released Jeffrey Epstein files, according to BBC reports. The documents, which also reference Prince Andrew, offer further insight into the late financier’s extensive web of contacts.
The documents, the third batch handed to the US House Oversight Committee by Epstein’s estate — contain a mixture of flight manifests, financial ledgers, message logs and daily schedules. Democrats on the committee say they provide further insight into Epstein’s extensive network of wealthy and influential contacts.
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One entry from December 2014 reads: “Reminder: Elon Musk to island Dec. 6 (is this still happening?).” Musk has previously acknowledged that Epstein invited him to the financier’s private island but said he declined.
Separately, a flight manifest dated May 12, 2000 records Prince Andrew travelling with Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell from Teterboro, New Jersey, to West Palm Beach, Florida. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of conspiring with Epstein to traffic girls for sex.
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The files also contain two ledger entries from early 2000 referring to payments for massages for an “Andrew.” While press reports, palace statements and photographs confirm that Prince Andrew was in the United States around those dates, it remains unclear whether the “Andrew” in the ledger refers to him. The Duke of York has consistently and strenuously denied any wrongdoing.
Other names appearing in the partial records include internet entrepreneur Peter Thiel, former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. The files reference a planned lunch with Thiel in 2017, a breakfast meeting with Bannon in February 2019, and tentative plans for a gathering with Gates in December 2014. Gates later told the BBC that meeting Epstein had been a “mistake.”
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It is not suggested that those listed in the files were aware of Epstein’s alleged criminal activities.
Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He had previously struck a plea deal in 2008 after being accused of molesting a 14-year-old girl at his Palm Beach home.
Sara Guerrero, spokeswoman for Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, urged US Attorney General Pam Bondi to ensure further files are made public. “It should be clear to every American that Jeffrey Epstein was friends with some of the most powerful and wealthiest men in the world,” she said.
“Every new document produced provides new information as we work to bring justice for the survivors and victims.”
Republicans on the committee accused Democrats of “putting politics over victims” and pledged to release the full set of documents soon.
