The Tech Elites In The Epstein Files
The Department of Justice has released what appears to be its last tranche of files related to convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. In all, the DOJ has released around 3.5 million pages in response to the Epstein Files Transparency Act of November 19, 2025. The files paint a portrait of Epstein’s connections—including a number of familiar names in the Silicon Valley billionaire set.
Some of the tech names in the files have long been associated with Epstein; Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates has been the subject of Epstein rumors and reporting for years. Other Epstein correspondents, Elon Musk, had less of an established connection before Friday’s release.
To be clear, a name appearing in the Epstein files does not mean that person has committed any kind of crime; a reference often means only that Epstein or an associate was talking about that person rather than directly to them, or d a news article or press release with their name in it. Some material also appears to be unvetted tips that members of the public provided to investigators. Even so, the files reveal just how intertwined Epstein’s network was with the tech industry—even years after his 2008 guilty plea for solicitation of prostitution and of procurement of minors to engage in prostitution.
Below are the names in tech that show up most frequently in the Epstein files, listed by the number of files in which their full names appear. This doesn’t include every Big Tech name in release; former Microsoft executive Steven Sinofsky appears in 1,427 files, and appears to have turned to Epstein for negotiating advice on his way out the door. Other prominent executives are also named in the files, but with far less frequency and seemingly no direct contact with Epstein himself.
Note also that this doesn’t capture multiple mentions within a single file, the use of nicknames—Gates is seemingly often referred to as “bg” in Epstein texts and emails—or first- or last-name mentions only. The files also appear to contain several duplicates, meaning the number of discrete mentions is in many cases much smaller than the number listed. A final caveat is that the number of mentions is something of a moving target, as the DOJ appears to have pulled some files down after having released them.
With that said, here are the biggest names in tech that appear in the highest number of Epstein files—and what those documents say about how interwoven those relationships were.
Reid Hoffman (2,658 Files)
Hoffman’s Epstein ties have been previously reported, particularly in connection to Hoffman’s fundraising efforts on behalf of the MIT Media Lab. While he has acknowledged that he did visit Epstein’s island—which the DOJ files appear to corroborate—Hoffman has maintained that it was strictly to support that philanthropic campaign.
Hoffman expressed remorse for engaging with Epstein in a 2019 Axios post. “I helped to repair his reputation and perpetuate injustice. For this, I am deeply regretful,” Hoffman wrote. In an appearance on the Newcomer podcast on December 1 of last year, Hoffman said “I was there for a night,” of his island visit. “Note to self: Google before going.”
The latest batch of references to Hoffman in the Epstein files appear to comprise primarily scheduling emails for meetings and calls, often including former MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito. Hoffman appears to have discussed plans to visit not just Epstein’s island but also his New Mexico ranch and New York City townhouse.
On X, Hoffman d a file that appears to be an intraoffice FBI email with the subject line “Names in JE file.” Gates, former president Bill Clinton, and economist Larry Summers are all listed under “positive case hits.” Donald Trump and Prince Andrew are among a set of highlighted names to indicate “salacious information” associated with the case. Hoffman appears on a much shorter list of names listed as “no hit.”
“Release all the files,” he wrote. “Prosecute the abusers.” Hoffman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bill Gates (2,592 Files)
The relationship between Gates and Epstein first came to light well before the release of the Epstein files. A 2019 New York Times story and a 2023 Wall Street Journal report detailed several meetings between the two, and previous releases have shed light on the relationship. (As WIRED has reported, a previous release shows Epstein was in close contact with a Gates adviser in 2017.) The new files released by the Justice Department appear to offer more detail, though; Epstein assistant Lesley Groff appears to have received a calendar alert from March 1, 2013 about a “1:00pm LUNCH w/Bill Gates and Woody Allen.” Epstein emailed Groff about a “12:30 Skype w/Bill Gates!” on January 28, 2014, and similar references to meetings and calls between the two show up throughout the release. Photos of Gates have also appeared in the archive of Epstein files.
Gates has acknowledged and expressed remorse over his contact with Epstein previously. “I wish I hadn’t met with him,” Gates told Axios in 2019. “I shouldn’t have had dinners with him,” Gates said in a 2023 interview with Sarah Ferguson of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s 7.30 news program.
The most recent tranche of files released by the DOJ contains the most extreme allegations yet about Gates, although they come in the form of emails that Epstein either left as drafts or sent only to himself. In an email Epstein sent to himself July 18, 2013, he wrote that he had helped Gates “to get drugs, in order to deal with consequences of sex with russian girls, to facilictating [sic] his illicit trysts, with married women.” That same day, Epstein sent himself another email claiming that Gates had asked him to “provide [Gates] antibiotics that [he] can surreptitiously give to Melinda” related to an “std” that Gates had allegedly emailed Epstein about previously.
It’s unclear whether Epstein ever sent these emails to Gates, and there’s no indication that any of the allegations are based in reality.
“These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false,” a spokesperson for Gates said in an emailed statement to WIRED. “The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein’s frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame.”
Peter Thiel (2,281 Files)
The New York Times reported in 2023 that venture capitalist and Palantir cofounder Peter Thiel apparently met with Epstein several times, according to scheduling records they had viewed. Similar notices appear throughout the DOJ’s recently released files, with references to “LUNCH w/ Peter Thiel” on multiple dates between 2014 and 2017.
In at least one direct correspondence between the two, Thiel appears to initiate the invitation. “What are you up to on Friday?” Thiel wrote to Epstein on April 5, 2016. “Should we try for lunch?” They subsequently agreed to meet at Thiel’s office at noon. The ing month, shortly after the revelation that Thiel had secretly funded a lawsuit against Gawker, Epstein emailed Thiel, “I would have gladly your expenses for the gawker suit.” The email exchanges go up to at least 2019, with Thiel asking Epstein where he’ll be in February.
The relationship appeared to be a two-way street; in an August 2016 response to an email about Tom Barrack, an adviser to Trump’s presidential campaign at the time, Thiel asked Epstein: “Any thoughts on the race?” Epstein replied, “lots, and you should be closer . So that your advice is considered.” Thiel tells Epstein to give him a call; Epstein responds “signal app,” ly referring to the encrypted messaging platform.
Thiel was one of the few vocal Trump supporters in Silicon Valley in 2016; he spoke in support of his campaign at that year’s Republican National Convention and donated to Trump’s campaign that October. Before JD Vance became vice president in Trump’s second term, he was a Thiel protégé in Silicon Valley, and his campaign received a $15 million donation from the venture capitalist during his 2022 Ohio senate run.
The bulk of the Thiel and Epstein emails, though, appear to center around scheduling meetings, calls, and meals. In one email referencing a 9:30 am meeting between Thiel and Epstein on February 4, 2016, Thiel’s former chief of staff and senior executive assistant Alisa Bekins d a list of dietary restrictions “in the event they eat breakfast.” An unredacted version lists dairy, fruit, gluten, and grains among the foods to avoid. Approved proteins include “kaki oysters,” catfish, sashimi, scallops, eggs, sea urchin, squid, and “sweet shrimp.” Thiel did not immediately respond to a request for comment from WIRED.
Elon Musk (1,116 Files)
Musk has long maintained that he never visited Epstein’s notorious island compound, and he once used the Epstein files as a cudgel against President Donald Trump during a brief falling out last summer. “Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files,” Musk wrote in a since-deleted post from June 5, 2025. “That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!” (Trump’s name and image have appeared in the files DOJ released, though the most potentially incriminating claims mentioning him appear to be uncorroborated tips sent to investigators.)
But Musk himself now shows up in the DOJ’s Epstein files well over 1,000 times, including direct correspondence between the two. In 2012 Epstein emailed Musk to ask, “Is there any one at Solar City that my guys can talk to about electriying the caribean island? or the new mexico ranch.” (SolarCity was a solar installation company founded by two of Musk’s cousins, with Musk as chairman and largest holder; Tesla acquired it in 2016.) Musk appeared willing to help, forwarding the email to his cousin Peter.
And while the files don’t seem to confirm any trips to Epstein’s island, they do suggest that Musk was interested in going there. “What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?” Musk wrote to Epstein on November 25, 2012. And then again on December 13, 2013, he emailed: “Will be in the BVI/St Bart’s area over the holidays. Is there a good time to visit?” There’s no indication that Musk actually made the trip, although the files do suggest that Musk and Epstein had spoken with each other as early as September 2012.
“I had very little correspondence with Epstein and declined repeated invitations to go to his island or fly on his ‘Lolita Express,’ but was well aware that some email correspondence with him could be misinterpreted and used by detractors to smear my name,” Musk said in a post on X on Saturday. “I don’t care about that, but what I do care about is that we at least attempt to prosecute those who committed serious crimes with Epstein, especially regarding heinous exploitation of underage girls.” Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from WIRED.
Larry Page (314 Files), Sergey Brin (294 Files)
The Google cofounders appear in the Epstein files roughly the same number of times, and both have been linked to Epstein previously. Page and Brin were both issued subpoenas in 2023 related to a civil lawsuit by the US Virgin Islands against JP Morgan Chase tied to Epstein’s sex trafficking crimes. In court documents related to Virginia Giuffre’s defamation lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell, which were unsealed in 2024, Epstein victim Sarah Ransome alleged that she had met Brin and his fiancée, Anne Wojcicki, prior to their 2007 wedding, “when they visited the island for the day.”
The recently released DOJ files provide a much fuller picture of their relationships with Epstein, particularly for Brin. An email exchange in April 2003 with Ghislaine Maxwell suggests that Brin had dinner at Epstein’s New York townhouse that month. (“Dinners at Jeffrey’s are always happily casual and relaxed,” Maxwell wrote.) In it, Brin offered to invite “our CEO Eric,” referring to Google’s then CEO Eric Schmidt, though he says that Schmidt’s “schedule will probably be a bit more packed,” and there is no indication Schmidt attended.
Page also appears to have dined with Epstein. “David Gergen is asking who was at the lunch or dinner years ago when he came=to your house and the Google guys were there (Larry Page and Sergey Brin),” Groff wrote to Epstein in 2015. There are references in the files, too, to purported business dealings between Page and Epstein. “Larry Page’s chief pilot, Tony contacted Nicolas today and is interested ‘again’ using your Bell 407 for the St. Barts operation,” says an email to Epstein from a redacted address sent on December 23, 2010, ed by a breakdown of the potential associated fees. The Bell 407 is a type of helicopter; emails show that an entity called “Air Ghislaine Inc” purchased one on October 30, 2002. The “St. Barts operation” appears to be a visit; Epstein was notified in an email later that same day that “Larry Page has changed his mind and will use boat to st barts.”
On another occasion, Epstein emailed a link to a news story about Google testing “internet-broadcasting drones” in New Mexico to a redacted address. “You can tell larry page that they can use my runway =s most of this land is my ranch,” he wrote. There’s no indication that this happened. Alphabet did not immediately respond to a request for comment from WIRED. Anne Wojcicki did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mark Zuckerberg (282 Files), Jeff Bezos (196 Files), Eric Schmidt (193 Files)
While Epstein appeared to email primarily about Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg rather than with him, the files do indicate at least one occasion when the two met. They were both on an invite list emailed by Reid Hoffman’s assistant for a dinner on August 2, 2015, with neuroscientist Ed Boyden. Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and Joi Ito were among the other invitees. Hoffman ed up a few days later with an email to Zuckerberg and Epstein with the subject line “intros.” “Jeffrey, Zuck,” the message reads, “email connections from the Ed Boyden dinner — so that convo can continue.”
There’s no indication that Zuckerberg ever responded. And otherwise, Epstein appears to have spent far more time emailing about Zuckerberg—his marriage to Priscilla Chan, whether he deserved a Nobel Peace Prize—than with him.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos appears to fall under the same category. Epstein claims in an email he was at an “after party for a film” at Ghislaine Maxwell’s townhouse in October 2009, and that Bezos and Clinton were also there. (Based on the timing and the director Epstein names, the film in question is ly Amelia, an Amelia Earhart biopic.) Epstein gives no indication that he interacted with Bezos, either there or in other files in which he’s mentioned.
The files wise don’t contain much if any direct interaction between Epstein and Eric Schmidt, who declined an invite to a dinner at Epstein’s house in 2013. That same year, Epstein wrote that he had not seen Schmidt for “quite a while.” Press contacts for Meta and Blue Origin did not immediately respond to a request from WIRED. A spokesperson for Eric Schmidt declined to comment.