Warren Buffett tells CNBC how the Epstein files have changed his relationship with Bill Gates

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Berkshire Hathway Chairman Warren Buffett sat down with CNBC on Tuesday morning to discuss a variety of topics, including his current involvement in the company, the Iran war, and how the Jeffrey Epstein investigation has changed his relationship with Bill Gates.

With much of his wealth getting donated over the years to the Gates Foundation, Buffett was asked what he thought about Bill Gates’ connection to Jeffrey Epstein.

“I haven’t talked to him at all since the whole thing was unveiled. I don’t want to be in a position where I know things at the moment. I could get called as a witness,” Buffett said.

Until the matter “gets cleared up,” he doesn’t think it makes sense to talk with Gates about any of it.

“I trust people, and I think I’ve trusted very good people, but I think — I can see where someone gets somebody like Epstein involved in their life, they don’t want to talk about it,” Buffett said.

He said his poor eyesight has prevented him from reading the files released so far from the Jeffrey Epstien case, but that he has someone reading them for him and keeping him aprised of the details.

Calling Jeffrey Epstein “a sensational con man,” Buffett said it’s been astounding to him how Epstein was able to find the weakness in so many people and prey upon them.

“I don’t see how anybody could have pulled that off,” Buffett said.

Buffett repeatedly voiced how astonished he was at the immensity of Epstein’s reach, saying it’s certain to have ripple effects for years to come, given how much of the files have been redacted.

“It is ruining one person after another. It’s just astounding to me how bad,” he said.

Buffett talked about watching many rationalize their ties to Epstein, and that he also understood that Epstein was an exceptional liar.

“I’m so happy the guy didn’t, that, uh, he didn’t stop in Omaha ever, or that I didn’t live in New York. If I’d lived in New York, I’m at some party, I’d have been at some damn thing and where people are always asking to take a picture. … Thank heavens I never came near the guy.”

Buffett said he had misgivings about Epstein when reading the Vanity Fair article in 2003, but at that time, his biggest concern was libel lawsuits.

Buffett spoke fondly about the relationship he’s had with Bill Gates over the years, sharing examples of the ways Gates had been a thoughtful host. But Buffett acknowledged that he’s kept his distance from Gates since the Epstein files revelations — and is thankful Gates didn’t put him into any sort of position that called him into question as far as the Epstein files are concerned.

“(Gates) could have done things that would have been — screwed up my life, and I would have gone along with him,” Buffett said.

Buffett on charitable foundations

In terms of the Gates Foundation, he said, “I did not ask probing questions. I mean, you know, if I thought I had to ask probing questions, I probably wouldn’t have put the money in in the first place.”

When Bill and Melinda Gates divorced, Buffett said he realized then that “there was a lot I didn’t know,” and he resigned from the foundation shortly thereafter.

Buffett said he wasn’t really around the foundation during the years that have come into question, and that the foundation had made “bad news” hires after he left.

“I’ve employed terrible people, but we’ve gotten rid of them,” he said.

Buffett spoke fondly about the relationship he’s had with Bill Gates over the years, sharing examples of the ways Gates had been a thoughtful host. But Buffett acknowledged that he’s kept his distance from Gates since the Epstein files revelations — and is thankful Gates didn’t put him into any sort of position that called him into question as far as the Epstein files are concerned.

“(Gates) could have done things that would have been — screwed up my life, and I would have gone along with him,” Buffett said.

Buffett wouldn’t confirm whether he would or would not be making his regular donation to the foundation in June. The money was pledged years ago, but Buffett is going to wait to see what unfolds between now and then before making a decision.

“Anybody that was involved in Epstein, I mean, they’ve been miserable, probably, from the moment they found out things were gonna get released. And they can’t bury it now. It’s gone too far,” Buffett said.

Foundations like the Gates Foundation have clearly done good work, he said, and he doesn’t regret giving them the money and knows the money has gone to initiatives that are important to the philanthropy.

He said he thinks foundations will actually bear the bulk of the consequences of the Epstein files, and it that it will happen at the hands of Congress — perhaps losing their tax-free status, or perhaps another sort of punishment. While Congress doesn’t act fast, Buffett said, they do react to whatever the public is mad about — and there will likely be repercussions down the road.

“Congress will want to look like they’re doing something about it,” Buffett said. “…Once public opinion changes, Congress changes. It’s just the way it works.”

The country’s endorsement of charity foundations is probably worth more scrutiny than it’s had, he said.

Buffett on tech

He said he never saw Apple as a tech company, but as a consumer company.

“I’m so late to the game; I am not learning new things well. I still don’t know what to do with a phone; but I just recognize that you’re going to have one, and your kids are gonna want one, and it’s a terrible useful, I mean, it’s incredibly useful… All I have to do is go out to Nebraska Furniture Mart and talk to the customers,” he said.

He was asked about selling Apple stock, which he said he sold too soon — but doesn’t have regrets.

“I’m very happy to have it be our largest holding. I was not happy to have it be as large as almost everything else combined,” he said.

He also said he doesn’t think that big tech companies need to worry much about regulation, especially with devices being so ubiquitous.

“I think the consumers are in love with them too much. That’s — I don’t think Washington will do anything that really destroys something that every one of their voters likes, and that they’re using themselves. It’s a remarkable product that way,” Buffett said.

Buffett on the Fed

Despite what President Trump says about the need to cut rates, he thinks Jerome Powell has done a solid job as the Fed chairman.

“I wouldn’t want the responsibility of running the Fed,” Buffett said. “…The Fed can’t print money.”

Buffett said Powell acted “exactly correctly” during the COVID pandemic, saying it would have been a disaster if he had waited two or three weeks.

“If he had waited two or three weeks, it would have been a disaster. Once the dominoes start toppling, they just start toppling, and that line is shorter than anybody thinks and it topples faster,” Buffett said.

He said if he were in Powell’s position, he would focus on inflation and stabilizing the banks.

Buffett, who said he’s been both a Democrat and a Republican but is now an independent, said things don’t look cheaper to him — but that he doesn’t think what’s going on with the markets today is overly concerning. Things looked worse in 2007-2008, he said.

He said he doesn’t know what the market is going to do, but just that he has “a reasonable idea what a business is worth.”

“I don’t have any ability to predict what stocks will do next week or next month. I will buy them if they’re cheap; I’ll buy a whole lot of them if they’re cheap and I think I really understand the business. And Apple is still our largest single investment,” he said.

Buffett on ‘the nuclear problem’

In the context of what’s been happening in Iran, Buffett was asked about nuclear powers in the world today.

Referencing “the most important letter ever written,” and the significance of getting Albert Einstein to sign it, Buffett said it had a huge impact on President Franklin Roosevelt, but “we haven’t learned to live with it.”

In 80 years, “we’ve had a lot of close calls. … There’s no way the planet has an expectancy of 500 years now, when it was 4 1/2 billion when I was a kid.”

He said he doesn’t fault anyone for that — it had to be done, but there’s no way to undo it.

Buffett said he once asked a U.S. president about a grave scenario: If Russia had launched missiles and was informed they were confirmed to be in the air, would they deploy missiles from SAC Air Force Base? According to Buffett, the president said “I thought about it every day” — that he thought the answer would be yes, he would have launched our missiles, because “that is the policy of the United States of America.”

Buffett said that one way or another in the next 100-200 years, “something will happen that will cause it to be used.”

U.S. President Kennedy and Russian President Kruschev were rational during the Cuban Missile Crisis, he said, but some leaders today aren’t so level-headed.

“We can’t take what’s out there now,” Buffett said.

He said he thinks the most dangerous nuclear scenario is having a leader with their hand on the switch who is dying themselves, is facing enormous embarrassment, or is otherwise cornered.

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