A personal letter apparently written by former Microsoft tech leader Nathan Myhrvold was included in Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday book, made public this week by the House Oversight Committee.
Myhrvold, who joined Microsoft in 1986 and served as the company’s first chief technology officer, is also listed as a “friend” in the book, a copy of which was provided by the Epstein estate as part of an investigation into the late financier and convicted sex offender.
“Mr. Myhrvold knew him from TED conferences and as a donor to basic scientific research,” a spokesperson for Myhrvold said in a statement to GeekWire. “He regrets that he ever met him.”
The one-page letter, signed “Nathan,” is addressed to “Jeffery,” a misspelling of Epstein’s first name.
“I have agonized long and hard about what to write for your birthday,” the letter begins, describing one abandoned version as “a highly philosophical take on personal perception,” due to Epstein’s status as “one of the few people who has influenced how I parse and understand the world.”
Another version, it adds, was “silly and salacious, since your approach to life has so much of each of these things.”
The letter continues, “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?’
“Alas I am ill prepared to comment on your lifestyle in any detail, since I am (sadly) so far behind that it would be talking about things I know little of!”
Following the letter in the book are a series of crude wildlife photos, including animals mating, which the letter describes as “a few photos that I took on my recent trip to Africa,” which “seemed more appropriate than anything I could put in words.”
Myhrvold is an accomplished photographer whose next book, “Natural Wonders,” is scheduled to be published by National Geographic in October.
The Wall Street Journal initially reported on the birthday book in July, and cited Myhrvold’s letter in a separate story later that month.
After a 14-year tenure at Microsoft, which included working directly for Bill Gates, Myhrvold went on to launch Bellevue, Wash.-based Intellectual Ventures. He is also vice chairman of TerraPower, the nuclear power venture where Gates, the Microsoft co-founder, is chairman.
Gates reportedly met Epstein in 2011 — after Epstein was convicted of sex crimes — and had several future meetings, according to a 2019 story from the New York Times. Gates later said those meetings were a “mistake.”
Epstein’s network of high-powered friends has come under scrutiny following his death in 2019. The birthday book, reportedly signed by Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003, also includes a letter bearing the apparent signature of President Donald Trump, which he has denied writing.
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