Records show deeper ties between Epstein, ex-Microsoft executive Myhrvold
Published in News & Features
Previously undisclosed correspondence between Jeffrey Epstein and former Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold released by the Justice Department last month point to a longtime connection between the two men.
Epstein, the financier and accused sex trafficker, and Myhrvold frequently exchanged emails and regularly met, both in Seattle and New York City, according to documents released last week. Epstein was convicted in 2008 of procuring a person under the age of 18 as part of a plea agreement that is receiving fresh scrutiny.
For Myhrvold, the chief technology officer for Microsoft from 1986 to 2000, the newly released documents appear to show his relationship with Epstein lasted from at least 1996 through 2018.
After Myhrvold left Microsoft, he co-founded Intellectual Ventures, a Bellevue-based investment firm that specializes in intellectual property and patenting. He still serves as the firm's CEO.
Myhrvold, who owns a home in Medina, Washington, also sits on the board of TerraPower, a nuclear company also based in Bellevue. TerraPower was founded by Myhrvold's former boss, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
Gates' ties to Epstein also gained new attention last week. A 2013 email from Epstein's account, seemingly written from the point of view of a Gates employee, said that Gates contracted sexually transmitted diseases from "Russian girls." Gates denied the claims.
The latest release of Epstein documents has forced several prominent figures out of positions of authority. Brad Karp, chairman of the massive corporate law firm Paul Weiss, resigned Wednesday after emails between him and Epstein surfaced. Art museum curator David A. Ross stepped down as chair of the MFA art practice program at the School of Visual Arts in New York on Tuesday after emails were made public showing him consoling Epstein in 2009.
Myhrvold and Gates are still both listed on TerraPower's board, according to the company website.
Epstein was convicted of child prostitution-related offenses in 2008 and arrested on sex trafficking and rape allegations in 2019. He died that year while jailed and awaiting trial, a death investigators deemed to be suicide.
A spokesperson for Myhrvold denied that Myhrvold had a personal relationship with Epstein, repeating a statement issued last year when Myhrvold's name was listed in other Epstein-related documents.
“Mr. Myhrvold knew him from TED conferences and as a donor to basic scientific research," the spokesperson said. "He regrets that he ever met him.”
Many of the emails between Myhrvold and Epstein released last week concerned scheduling of personal meetings.
In an Aug. 4, 2013, email, Myhrvold and Epstein discuss the latter's then-upcoming visit to Seattle and plan to meet on Aug. 7. In July 2011, during one of Epstein's visits to Seattle, Epstein asked Myhrvold if they could meet with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Myhrvold wasn't able to get ahold of Allen, emails indicate.
The two also dined for multiple meals at Epstein's residence in New York when Myhrvold was in town.
Other messages between Myhrvold and Epstein — some peppered with vulgarities and innuendo — appear to capture a chummy, close relationship. On Nov. 23, 2013, Epstein thanked Myhrvold for sending him books with a note that the "pistachio icecream didn't make it." Myhrvold replied, "pussy doesn't FedEx well either! Some things you have to be there."
Epstein, a registered sex offender from his 2008 conviction, was accused of rape and operating a sex trafficking ring involving young women and girls. In interviews with investigators, lawsuits and public statements, his accusers describe being sexually exploited at Epstein's island in the Caribbean and his ranch in New Mexico. Accusers have also named prominent figures like Prince Andrew as clients of Epstein's, though many of those implicated during the investigations have not been identified publicly.
On May 31, 2014, before a visit to Seattle by Epstein, Myhrvold reached out and invited him to visit his labs and office at Intellectual Ventures, the Bellevue-based investment firm co-founded by Myhrvold.
"Have your people call mine, we will set up a lab visit, and you should come see my office. and bring" her, Myhrvold appears to have written, referring to a woman or girl by name.
"i am going to leave her there," Epstein replied. Myhrvold sent back a smiling face emoticon.
On Nov. 23, 2011, Epstein invited Myhrvold to his private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a site central to the allegations against Epstein. Multiple accusers have said Epstein's island was a base for his sex trafficking operations. Virginia Giuffre, an Epstein accuser who died by suicide in 2025, accused Prince Andrew of abusing her there.
Myhrvold emailed Epstein saying, "Just motored past your island (I'm on my boat), so I thought I would wish you happy thanksgiving!" Epstein replied, "Come visit, I am here." Myhrvold said he had diving plans but could make it to the island that weekend. That Saturday, Myhrvold said he "Should be there by 4pm, and maybe a bit earlier."
Provided a list of questions that included details of the emails noted in this story, a spokesperson for Myhrvold declined to comment in depth. They did not address the correspondence that implied Myhrvold visited Epstein's island.
The statement the spokesperson issued, suggesting Myhrvold's connections to Epstein were limited to TED talks and science philanthropy, mirrors a statement issued by Myhrvold last year, when a letter from Myhrvold appeared in Epstein's "birthday book," which included personal letters from America's elite, President Donald Trump apparently among them.
When Congress released multiple sets of documents from the Epstein estate last year, Myhrvold was named in a 2003 birthday book compiled of multiple lewd letters, drawings and images apparently from political and industry elites, including Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Apollo Global Management founder Leon Black.
Along with a letter purportedly written by Myhrvold, the book included several sexually explicit wildlife photos that Myhrvold, an accomplished nature photographer, appeared to have taken during a trip to Africa, according to a redacted copy of the book released in September.
Myhrvold is also listed as a passenger for two flights on Epstein's private jet during the 1990s, which were disclosed in a defamation lawsuit filed by Guiffre against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's accomplice, who was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking girls and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
The Justice Department's release last week included more than 3 million documents and images. Additional disclosures are expected next week, as NBC News reported Friday that Congress will be able to begin viewing unredacted versions of the records Monday morning.
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