Printed documents available at Epstein Library on the U.S. Department of Justice website are seen in this illustration photo.<\/p>\n
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images<\/p>\n
The U.S. Justice Department’s latest release of millions of documents related to the notorious sex criminal and financier Jeffrey Epstein has shed more light on the relationships he built with various influential figures, including many from the American tech industry.<\/p>\n
Notably, the files reference communications and meetings involving tech mogul Elon Musk and Microsoft co-founder\u00a0Bill Gates, two of the world’s wealthiest people. This has led to much scrutiny of the pair in recent weeks, both of whom have denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein.<\/p>\n
But those two billionaires\u00a0are\u00a0not\u00a0the only tech names to appear\u00a0repeatedly in\u00a0the trove of new documents. Other tech executives named include Google co-founder Sergey Brin, venture capitalist Peter Thiel, former Microsoft executive Steven Sinofsky, and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.<\/p>\n
While those executives have been linked to Epstein in the past, the new disclosures reveal more than previously known about their association with the convicted sex offender through records ranging from emails,\u00a0schedules\u00a0and photos.<\/p>\n
Brin and Sinofsky have not commented on the matter, while Theil\u00a0and Hoffman have said they only associated with Epstein for legal and legitimate purposes.<\/p>\n
Authorities have stressed that\u00a0being\u00a0named in the records\u00a0does\u00a0not\u00a0indicate\u00a0evidence of wrongdoing\u202fnor prove\u202fthat\u00a0the name was\u00a0part of a\u00a0purported client\u00a0list or blackmail scheme.<\/p>\n
Still, the files help paint a picture of Epstein’s longstanding efforts to embed himself within \u2014 and sometimes become a confidant and\u00a0power-broker\u00a0for \u2014 some of Silicon Valley’s most powerful circles prior to his death in 2019<\/p>\n
Peter Thiel, PayPal and Palantir co-founder\u00a0<\/p>\n Peter Thiel, a venture capitalist and co-founder of Palantir and PayPal, where he once worked alongside Elon Musk, also appears in the Epstein files, with the latest release showing correspondence\u00a0between\u00a0and about\u00a0the two.<\/p>\n Those communications began around 2014 and lasted until around\u202f2019<\/a>, just months before Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges, and well after he was first formally charged with sex-related crimes in 2006.<\/p>\n Among the materials is a\u00a0recording of an undated conversation<\/a>\u00a0between Epstein and former Israeli prime minister\u00a0Ehud Barak, in which Epstein references Thiel.<\/p>\n In the recording, Epstein\u00a0advised\u00a0Barak\u00a0on how to\u00a0leverage\u00a0his connections to get a lucrative position at\u00a0a\u00a0company,\u00a0floating\u00a0Palantir as\u00a0a potential option.\u00a0He added that he had not yet met Thiel but hoped to see him the following week.<\/p>\n The duo would indeed get better acquainted, with emails over the years including meeting plans, discussions about the\u00a0Trump campaign<\/a>, and other informal exchanges. Ahead of one planned meeting, Thiel’s team had even sent his\u00a0dietary details<\/a>\u00a0to Epstein’s staff.\u202f<\/p>\n Peter Thiel, a venture capitalist and co-founder of Palantir and PayPal, appeared in the Epstein files, with the latest release showing correspondence between and about the two.<\/p>\n Stephanie Keith | Getty Images News | Getty Images<\/p>\n Files released by the House Oversight Committee in November 2025 also showed Epstein\u00a0invited Thiel<\/a>\u00a0to visit him in “the Caribbean.”<\/p>\n In response to CNBC’s request for comment, a representative for Thiel said the venture capitalist never visited Epstein’s\u00a0infamous private island\u00a0in the Virgin Islands.<\/p>\n The New York Times\u00a0reported in June<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0Epstein,\u00a0in 2015 and 2016,\u00a0had invested $40 million in two funds managed by a\u00a0venture capital\u00a0firm\u00a0co-founded by Thiel.<\/p>\n In a\u00a0podcast appearance<\/a>\u00a0that aired on Aug. 16, 2024,\u00a0Thiel discussed some of his encounters with Epstein, noting that he met him a few times starting in 2014, after being introduced by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.<\/p>\n Thiel said the discussions centered on tax and financial\u00a0advice. He added that he had underestimated the severity of Epstein’s earlier crimes due to Epstein’s lenient sentencing in 2008 and his trust in the judgment of his mutual connections.<\/p>\n Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder\u00a0<\/p>\n The latest Epstein file releases feature many references to Reid Hoffman, who co-founded LinkedIn in 2002, with communications between the two showing several friendly email exchanges.<\/p>\n While much of the correspondence centered on fundraising for MIT’s Media Lab, it also included personal interactions, tax advice, meeting plans, and\u00a0mentions of\u00a0gifts<\/a>\u00a0Hoffman sent to Epstein. The documents also confirm a 2014 visit Hoffman made to Epstein’s private island.\u202f<\/p>\n Hoffman has previously acknowledged visiting the island, saying the trip was strictly for philanthropic purposes and that he later regretted not researching Epstein more thoroughly beforehand.\u202f<\/p>\n However, other emails show plans for\u00a0additional\u00a0visits to Epstein’s estates, including his\u00a0Zorro Ranch<\/a>\u00a0in New Mexico and his Manhattan apartment, though\u00a0it’s\u00a0unclear which of those trips actually occurred.\u202f\u00a0Hoffman recently confirmed<\/a> 2016 meetings with Epstein in Palo Alto and Cambridge.<\/p>\n Epstein is seen referring to Hoffman as a “very close friend,”\u00a0and saying at one point that he\u00a0missed seeing and talking to the <\/a>internet entrepreneur.\u00a0Emails in 2014 also show the financier\u00a0trying to\u00a0help connect Hoffman to\u00a0investment opportunities\u00a0<\/a>in India.<\/p>\n Reid Hoffman attends a conversation at 92NY on Jan. 28, 2025 in New York City. The latest Epstein file releases feature many references to Hoffman.<\/p>\n Dominik Bindl | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a 2015 email from\u00a0Epstein mentioned a dinner\u00a0Hoffman hosted in Palo Alto,\u00a0attended by Zuckerberg, Musk, Thiel, and MIT neuroscientist Ed Boyden<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hoffman\u00a0connected Zuckerberg and Epstein<\/a>\u00a0via email after the event.\u202f\u00a0In response to an inquiry, Meta directed CNBC to a 2019 statement from a spokesperson, which stated that\u00a0Zuckerberg\u00a0did not\u00a0communicate with Epstein again\u00a0after the dinner.<\/p>\n Hoffman did not respond to a CNBC request for comment. He has previously\u00a0said he regrets his interactions with Epstein and has called for a full release of the Epstein files.\u202fThe\u00a0latest documents\u00a0reviewed by CNBC\u00a0contained\u00a0no\u00a0indications\u00a0of criminal wrongdoing or involvement in Epstein’s illicit activities.<\/p>\n However, in November last year, President Donald Trump had\u00a0ordered a DOJ investigation<\/a>\u00a0into Hoffman, a major Democratic donor, along with former\u00a0president Bill Clinton and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.<\/p>\n Trump framed the investigation as a probe of Democratic ties to Epstein, though some critics argued it was a deflection from\u00a0Trump’s own mentions in the files.\u00a0Trump has confirmed\u00a0a past friendship with Epstein, but said he had no knowledge of his crimes and broke off his relationship with\u00a0him\u00a0years ago.<\/p>\n Sergey Brin, Google co-founder\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0file release\u00a0also contains\u00a0multiple references to Google co-founder Sergey Brin,\u00a0including\u00a0email communications.<\/p>\n One\u00a0particular email chain in April 2003<\/a>\u00a0showed Brin communicating with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime companion and convicted co-conspirator,\u00a0regarding\u00a0potential dinner plans at Epstein’s New York estate.<\/p>\n The exchange appeared to follow up on an earlier\u00a0encounter between the two.\u00a0“Dinners at Jeffrey’s are always happily casual and relaxed. Look forward to seeing you,” Maxwell wrote.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n CNBC contacted Brin through Google for\u00a0comment, but\u00a0did\u00a0not receive a response.\u00a0<\/p>\n Connections between Epstein and Brin have been previously documented, though no allegations of wrongdoing have been leveled.<\/p>\n Sergey Brin at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 10, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. The Epstein file release contain multiple references to Google co-founder Sergey Brin, including email communications.<\/p>\n Lionel Hahn | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images<\/p>\n In 2004, Epstein had allegedly\u00a0referred Brin to JPMorgan Chase<\/a>\u00a0as a client and later connected him with bank executives for tax advice, per a complaint filed by the U.S. Virgin Islands government in a U.S. district court against JPMorgan Chase Bank. The U.S. Virgin Islands also subpoenaed Brin in March 2023 for documents related to Epstein’s interactions with JPMorgan.<\/p>\n Meanwhile,\u202fcourt documents<\/a>\u202funsealed in 2024\u00a0related to litigation involving Maxwell included exhibits in which Epstein accuser Sarah Ransome\u00a0alleged she met\u00a0Brin and his then fianc\u00e9e, now ex-wife, Anne Wojcicki, on Epstein’s island.<\/p>\n Brin stepped down as president of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, on Dec.\u202f3,\u00a02019,\u00a0saying at the time that he was no longer needed\u00a0in the role. However,\u00a0he\u00a0remained\u00a0a controlling shareholder and board member.<\/p>\n He returned from semi-retirement in late 2023 to actively contribute to the company’s artificial intelligence initiatives, including work on Gemini.<\/p>\n Steven Sinofsky, ex-Microsoft executive\u00a0<\/p>\n More details of the relationship between Epstein and Steven Sinofsky, a former Microsoft executive who oversaw key products like Windows and Office, were revealed in the latest files.<\/p>\n The documents showed that Sinofsky had\u00a0sought Epstein’s advice<\/a>\u00a0on the terms of his exit from Microsoft after leaving in 2012.<\/p>\n Sinofsky, who is now a board partner at venture capital firm\u00a0Andreessen Horowitz, then\u00a0emailed Epstein<\/a>\u00a0in September 2013, about three months after Microsoft announced the terms of his $14 million retirement agreement, writing: “Got paid.\u00a0You will be too :)”<\/p>\n Sinofsky continued to email Epstein through 2018, discussing his finances, career prospects and social events in New York,\u00a0San Francisco\u00a0and Seattle.<\/p>\n Steven Sinofsky speaks at an event at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, on Feb. 29, 2012. More details of the relationship between Epstein and Sinofsky, a former Microsoft executive, were revealed in the latest files.<\/p>\n Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n An email exchange from November 2012 also appears to show Epstein referencing\u00a0a possible meeting between\u00a0<\/a>Sinofsky and Apple’s Tim Cook\u00a0regarding\u00a0job opportunities. In the email, Epstein\u00a0appears to indicate\u00a0he had recently spoken with Cook, saying “tim\u00a0cook was excited to meet” with Sinofsky,\u00a0though the context is unclear. Months later, Sinofsky would\u00a0email\u00a0<\/a>Epstein about a meeting with Cook.<\/p>\n Sinofsky declined to comment. Apple did not respond to a request for comment\u00a0regarding\u00a0the alleged\u00a0Epstein-Cook interaction.<\/p>\n Epstein’s relationship with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who appears in\u00a0earlier document releases, has also drawn intense scrutiny in recent weeks following\u00a0mentions\u00a0in the latest disclosures. Those included draft emails\u00a0written to himself\u00a0in which\u00a0Epstein\u00a0suggests\u00a0that\u00a0he had helped facilitate extramarital affairs and sexual encounters\u00a0for Gates,\u00a0amongst\u00a0other things.<\/p>\n In an interview with Australia’s 9News on Wednesday, Gates denied any wrongdoing in relation to new files, calling Epstein’s allegations “absolutely absurd and completely false.”<\/p>\n He emphasized that his interactions with Epstein were limited to dinners aimed at potential philanthropy discussions, adding that he “never went to the island”\u00a0and “never met any women.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Printed documents available at Epstein Library on the U.S. Department of Justice website are seen in this illustration…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":463047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[16975,4615,2158,45,161,49,48,250,12208,14288,16961,714,53037,189189,189190,61],"class_list":["post-463046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-bill-gates","tag-breaking-news-politics","tag-breaking-news-technology","tag-business","tag-business-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-elon-musk","tag-jeffrey-epstein","tag-laws","tag-peter-thiel","tag-politics","tag-reid-hoffman","tag-sergei-brin","tag-steven-sinofsky","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/463047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}