SEATTLE — The Gates Foundation has commissioned an external review into ties between the Seattle-headquartered philanthropic foundation and the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who maintained a yearslong relationship with foundation founder Bill Gates.

In a Tuesday statement, the Gates Foundation said that it launched the external review earlier this year to “assess past foundation engagement with Epstein, and our current policies for vetting and developing new philanthropic partnerships.” The review is underway; foundation board and management expect to receive an update this summer.

Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman mentioned the external review in a memo to employees Tuesday, first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Suzman had already notified employees of the external review in March, in a follow-up to Gates apologizing to foundation employees for his ties to Epstein, according to a March 11 memo viewed by The Seattle Times.

Gates addressed his yearslong connection to Epstein in February, after details of their interactions became public in a 3-million-document trove released by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The two first met in 2011, three years after Epstein was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution and served jail time. Epstein wrote in a 2011 email how he spent the day with Gates “having monstrous fun” while he stayed in Seattle.

They continued to spend time together through 2014 as they met about a potential fund dedicated to global health. Epstein told Gates he could raise $100 billion from his relationship with Wall Street billionaires, according to Gates.

Epstein visited the Gates Foundation headquarters in Seattle at least once, for a tour in 2011. They also met in Gates’ private office on the Eastside and in New York, and spent time together in Europe.

Gates denied ever going to Epstein’s private Caribbean island or his New Mexico ranch, which is the subject of a criminal investigation by the New Mexico Department of Justice.

The men’s relationship soured in 2014, when it became clear the fund wouldn’t materialize, Gates said at the February town hall. He stopped sending Epstein messages or replying to at least a dozen messages Epstein sent to him.

Between 2011 and 2014, at least five other Gates Foundation employees corresponded with Epstein using their Gates email addresses, according to documents reviewed by The Seattle Times.

Before Gates’ town hall, the foundation said in a Feb. 11 statement that it was reviewing materials released by the Justice Department and was aware of several foundation employees who interacted with Epstein.

Gates is scheduled to appear before a U.S. House committee this summer to answer questions as part of a congressional investigation into Epstein.

Gates’ ties with Epstein have created troubling situations outside of his namesake foundation. The nuclear power company Gates founded, Bellevue-based TerraPower, addressed Gates’ connections with employees in an all-hands meeting in March.

TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque told employees the company had no connection with Epstein or his money, but acknowledged Gates’ and former Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Nathan Myhrvold’s — chair and vice-chair of TerraPower, respectively — widely publicized relationships with Epstein.

Levesque referenced Gates’ town hall with Gates Foundation employees and encouraged those at TerraPower to listen to Gates’ public comments on his relationship with Epstein. Gates has repeatedly called the relationship a huge mistake.

When the conversation shifted toward Myhrvold, Levesque said there’s been no evidence of wrongdoing disclosed, but called “some of the news troubling,” and said TerraPower’s board was monitoring the situation.

Representatives for Myhrvold have said multiple times that Myhrvold knew Epstein “from TED conferences and as a donor to basic scientific research,” and that he regrets ever meeting Epstein.

In documents released by both the House oversight committee investigating Epstein’s network and the Justice Department, correspondence between Myhrvold and Epstein has surfaced repeatedly.

Myhrvold’s name was included in a 2003 birthday book compiled for Epstein that Congress released in September. The book, a collection of lewd letters, drawings and images from political and business elites, included a letter that appears to have been written by Myhrvold.

The letter references a conversation Myhrvold had with someone about Epstein that reads, “A few years ago somebody at a party asked me ‘Does Jeffrey Epstein manage your money?’ I replied ‘No, but he advises me on lifestyle.’ The guys eyes bugged out of his head and he said ‘REALLY?'”

Attached with the letter are photos that depict sex acts between zebras and between lions. The photos “seemed more appropriate than anything I could put in words,” the typewritten letter, signed “Nathan,” said.

Myhrvold was also listed as a passenger on Epstein’s private jet in the 1990s at least twice. That, coupled with personal and sometimes vulgar emails between Myhrvold and Epstein in the 2010s, shows their relationship spanned decades.

Levesque told TerraPower employees that concerns around Myhrvold were a board-level discussion and that “there’s a discussion happening on this matter. We’re going to continue watching it.”

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(Microsoft Philanthropies underwrites some Seattle Times journalism projects, as does the Gates Foundation.)

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