How a young neuroscientist became a connection between the Microsoft co-founder and the pedophile financier

一位年轻的神经科学家怎么成为微软的联合创始人和恋童癖金融家之间的联系人的
By VICKY WARD 作者：维姬.沃德
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Rick Friedman/Corbis/Getty Images; zz/PBG/AAD/STAR MAX/IPx/AP
As the world now knows, one of the more surprising names to have popped up around Jeffrey Epstein is Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

现在全世界皆知，杰弗里.爱泼斯坦事件出现了一个更令人惊讶的名字，那就是微软的联合创始人比尔.盖茨。

It’s been widely reported that Gates had flown on Epstein’s plane at least once, and visited his home multiple times — but the depth of their relationship is not fully known, and more details are emerging. The media is rife with speculation that one cause of Gates’ recent divorce from his wife Melinda was his relationship with Epstein.

据广泛报道，盖茨至少坐过一次爱泼斯坦的飞机，并多次造访过他的家--但他们之间的关系究竟有多深并不完全清楚，更多细节正在展现。 媒体充斥着一个猜测，认为盖茨最近与妻子梅琳达离婚的一个原因就是他与爱泼斯坦的关系。
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When asked about how they met, a spokesperson for the Gates Foundation told me that many people encouraged Gates to meet with Epstein, suggesting that Epstein would help bring funds into the software entrepreneur’s famed philanthropic organization.

当被问及他们是怎么认识的时候，盖茨基金会的一位发言人告诉我，许多人鼓励盖茨与爱泼斯坦见面，并暗示爱泼斯坦将帮助这位软件企业家的著名慈善组织引入资金。

In 2019, Gates was quoted as saying, at the New York Times DealBook conference, “I made a mistake in judgment in that I thought those discussions would lead literally to billions of dollars going to global health. Turned out that was a bad judgment, that was a mirage.” He also admitted, “I gave him some benefit by the association.”

2019年，《纽约时报》引述盖茨在“交易录”会议上的话说："我做出了错误的判断，我以为这些讨论确实能筹集数十亿美元的资金用于全球健康项目。 结果发现那是一个错误的判断，那是一个海市蜃楼。" 他还承认，"我在交往过程中给了他一些好处"。  

So, here’s what I know from my reporting that takes this story further. 

因此，以下是从我的报道中了解到的情况，可进一步了解故事的原委。
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In Bill Gates’ case, one conduit to him was a protégé of Epstein’s: Her name is Melanie S. Walker. 

比尔.盖茨事件的中间人是爱泼斯坦的一个门生，她的名字叫梅兰妮.沃克。
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Walker is a neuroscientist and neurosurgeon who became a top adviser to Gates at his Foundation and after that, became a senior adviser at the World Bank. The Gates Foundation placed her at the international financial institution in a somewhat-common arrangement called a secondment. What that means is the Foundation paid her salary — even though she was working for the World Bank. 

沃克是一位神经科学家和神经外科医生，她在盖茨基金会担任盖茨的高级顾问，之后成为了世界银行的高级顾问。 盖茨基金会安排她在这个国际金融机构任职。这是一种比较常见的安排，称为借调。 这意味着尽管她在为世界银行工作，仍然是基金会支付她的工资 。

She found herself in such echelons in an intriguing way: Walker came from a working class family in Texas; as she reached adulthood, she was beautiful and bright. Having finished her undergraduate studies at the University of Texas , she was on a sightseeing trip to New York in 1992. She was having tea in the main dining room of the Plaza Hotel when Jeffrey Epstein approached, because, says a source with knowledge, he thought she was attractive. With him was Donald Trump, who was busy shaking hands with people in the room. (Trump was then the Plaza’s owner.) Trump also introduced himself to Walker.

沃克发现自己处于一种有趣的职权阶层中：她来自于德克萨斯州的一个工人阶级家庭；成年后，她美丽而聪慧。 在德克萨斯大学完成了本科学业后，她于1992年到纽约观光旅游。 当杰弗里.爱泼斯坦走近她时，她正在广场酒店的主餐厅喝茶。据一位知情人士说，这是因为爱泼斯坦认为她很有吸引力。 和他在一起的是唐纳德.特朗普，而特朗普正忙着和房间里的人握手。 (特朗普当时是广场酒店的业主）。 特朗普还向沃克介绍了自己。

Epstein then became a mentor to Walker. Walker told the Times that Epstein offered her a modeling opportunity — but the person familiar says Epstein told her not to go into modeling, and he encouraged her to finish medical school, which she did. 

爱泼斯坦随后成为沃克的导师。 沃克告诉《泰晤士报》，爱泼斯坦为她提供了一个做模特的机会-但这位知情人说，爱泼斯坦告诉她不要去做模特，他鼓励她完成医学院的学业，她也完成了。

From 1992 to 2000, the time period when she went to medical school in Texas, records show that she listed an address in a New York apartment building that Epstein owned. This was a place she could use for occasional meetings in New York, according to the person familiar with her. But, this person says, she didn’t live there.

从1992年到2000年，也就是她在德克萨斯州上医学院的那段时间，记录显示，她列出了一个爱泼斯坦拥有的纽约的一栋公寓楼的地址。 据熟悉她的人说，这是她在纽约偶尔和人会面使用的地址。 但是，这个人说，她并不住在那里。

According to a source with knowledge, in 1998, while she was pursuing a post-doctoral study at Cal Tech, Epstein hired her as his “Science Advisor.” She would later tell people who then spoke to me, that she felt a deep gratitude toward Epstein, both for his advice and for the job.

据一位知情人士透露，1998年，当她在加州理工学院进行博士后研究时，爱泼斯坦聘请她为 "科学顾问"。 她后来告诉那些与我交谈的人，无论是提供建议还是工作，她对爱泼斯坦都深表感激。

A source who was friendly with Epstein then recalls her role as providing Epstein with introductions to interesting faculty members at Cal Tech and elsewhere — people whose work he might be interested in funding. This person recalls meeting her at a dinner at Epstein’s house in New York. Her relationship with Epstein seemed only professional to this observer.

一位与爱泼斯坦交好的消息人士回忆道，她的角色是向爱泼斯坦介绍加州理工学院和其他地方有趣的教职人员，因为他可能有兴趣资助这些人的工作。 这个人回忆说，他是在爱泼斯坦在纽约的家中的一次晚宴上认识她的。 在这位观察者看来，她与爱泼斯坦之间只是工作关系。

Around the same time, she and Prince Andrew became close friends. But not through Epstein, at least according to a source with knowledge. The story goes, according to that source, that Walker received a spare ticket to a Broadway show from a different friend and sat next to Prince Andrew.

几乎在同时，她和安德鲁王子变成了亲密的朋友。 但不是通过爱泼斯坦，至少据一位知情人士透露。 据该消息人士称，沃克从另外一个朋友那里拿了一张多余的百老汇演出票，并坐在安德鲁王子旁边。

In the early 2000s, she found herself in Seattle, and for the first time, the orbit of Bill Gates — this was after she moved in with an executive at Microsoft. His name is Steven Sinofsky. According to an eyewitness, Sinofsky brought Walker to Microsoft events, and at a company barbecue, she met the Microsoft founder. 

在21世纪初，她发现自己在西雅图，并且第一次进入了比尔.盖茨的社交轨道--这是在她和微软的一位高管同居之后。 他的名字是史蒂芬-辛诺夫斯基。 据一位目击者说，辛诺夫斯基带沃克参加了微软的活动，在一次公司的烧烤会上，她见到了这位微软创始人。

In 2006, she was hired by the Gates Foundation, partly so she would stay in Seattle along with Sinofsky, says a person familiar. A separate source says during this time Walker talked highly about Epstein. 

一位知情人士说，她于2006年被盖茨基金会聘用，而受雇的部分原因是为了让她和辛诺夫斯基一起留在西雅图。 另一个消息来源说，在这段时间里，沃克对爱泼斯坦评价很高。

Meanwhile, two other people close to Gates and to Walker — the physician Boris Nikolic and the scientist Nathan Myhrvold — had also met Epstein and also talked up Epsein to Gates, says this source. In 2010 Gates announced the Giving Pledge: a commitment by the world’s richest individuals and families to give away the majority of their wealth – and he wanted to connect with as many of these types of people as possible.

同时，这个消息人士说，与盖茨和沃克关系密切的另外两个人：医生鲍里斯.尼科利奇和科学家内森.迈尔沃德，也曾见过爱泼斯坦，还向盖茨谈起过爱泼斯坦。 2010年，盖茨宣布了 "捐赠承诺"：世界上最富有的个人和家庭承诺捐出他们的大部分财富--他想尽可能多地与这类型的人建立联系。

At this time some of the people at the Gates Foundation had gotten the impression from Epstein that he was a billionaire and therefore a potential contributor to the Giving Pledge and that his time in prison in 2009 was mostly undeserved. Epstein had told them that he simply caught a bad rap for an experience with women who had lied about their age.

此时，盖茨基金会的一些人对爱泼斯坦的印象是，他是一个亿万富翁，因此是 "捐赠承诺 "的潜在贡献者，2009年他入狱是被冤枉的。 爱泼斯坦曾告诉他们，他只是因为与那些谎报年龄的女性的经历而陷入了困境。

Sources say Nikolic was impressed with Epstein’s ideas for fundraising, as was Gates, who met Epstein in early 2011 at a dinner, according to the New York Times. Sources say Gates wasn’t aware that Epstein did not have the sort of money he claimed to have, until much later. 

据《纽约时报》报道，消息人士称，尼科利奇对爱泼斯坦的筹款理念印象深刻，盖茨也是如此。盖茨是在2011年初的一次晚宴上认识爱泼斯坦的。 有消息称，盖茨直到很久以后才意识到爱泼斯坦并没有他声称的那种钱。

Gates and Epstein worked together on a global health fund. Everything went well — until, according to the New York Times’ descxtion of a pitch document, Epstein asked a cut of any donations that he had helped facilitate from high-net-worth individuals. Gates and the people around him never finalized the plans because, according to someone with knowledge, once the lawyers looked at it, all sorts of warning bells went off. This may have been a factor in Gates ultimately dropping Epstein. 

盖茨和爱泼斯坦曾在一个全球健康基金上合作过。 根据《纽约时报》对一份宣传文件的描述：一切进展得都很顺利，直到爱泼斯坦要求从他帮助促成的高净值个人的任何捐款中抽成。 盖茨和他身边的人一直没有敲定这个计划，因为据知情人士说，一旦律师看了这个计划，各种警钟就会响起。 这可能是盖茨最终放弃爱泼斯坦的一个原因。

But, Epstein apparently wasn’t so easy to shake off. Sources describe him like a mollusk at elite global philanthropic gatherings — to which he wasn’t invited.

但是，爱泼斯坦显然不是那么容易摆脱的。 消息人士将他描述为全球精英慈善聚会上的软体动物—即使他没有受邀参加。
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Nikolic would subsequently run into Epstein a few times a year — either at Davos World Economic Forum, which Epstein wouldn’t attend but rented a chalet nearby; or at Ted conferences, where he was also wouldn’t enter, but where Epstein, regardless, set up camp; or at Harvard, where Nikolic worked. The encounters, according to the source, were brief and pleasant. 

尼科利奇之后每年都会遇到爱泼斯坦几次—要么是在达沃斯世界经济论坛上，虽然爱泼斯坦不会参加，但总在会场附近租一个小木屋；要么是在泰德会议上，虽然他不会参加，但会在那里扎营；要么是在哈佛，因为尼科利奇在那里工作。 据消息人士称，这些接触是短暂而愉快的。

Nothing materialized from his outreach to Gates; sources say Epstein made a final “fuck you” to Gates two days before he died. At this moment, he appointed Nikolic as a substitute executor of his will. Nikolic says he had had no meaningful contact with Epstein for years — so, the move could have been designed to shine a light on the Gates/Epstein relationship, with the full knowledge that it could be extraordinarily damaging to Gates’ reputation. I reached out to Nikolic who told me in an email exchange he had fainted at his mother’s wake when heard of his appointment and that “it was absolutely a retaliatory move”. 

他与盖茨的接触没有任何实质性的结果；有消息称，爱泼斯坦在去世前两天对盖茨说了最后一句 "去你的"。 此刻，他指定尼科利奇为他遗嘱的代执行人。 尼科利奇说，他与爱泼斯坦多年来没有任何有意义的接触--因此，此举可能是为了凸显盖茨与爱泼斯坦的关系，因为他完全知道这可能对盖茨的声誉造成极大的损害。 我联系了尼科利奇，他在电子邮件里告诉我，当听到被爱泼斯坦指定为遗嘱代执行人时，他在母亲的守灵仪式上晕倒了，因为"这绝对是一个报复性的举动"。

He added: “Over the past few years, we have all learned that Epstein was a master deceiver. I now see that his philanthropic proposals were designed to ingratiate himself with my colleagues and me in an attempt to further his own social and financial ambitions. When he failed to achieve his goals, he started to retaliate.” Nikolic sought legal advice and declined his executor duties. 

他补充说： "在过去的几年里，我们都知道爱泼斯坦是一个欺骗高手。 我现在明白了，他的慈善提议是为了讨好我和我的同事，试图推进他自己的社交和经济野心。 当他没能实现自己的目标时，他开始报复。" 尼科利奇寻求法律咨询，并拒绝了他的执行人职责。
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Walker, meanwhile, has got on with her work as a neurosurgeon, and Gates, as we know, has gotten divorced. But the story serves as a warning perhaps that one should assume that the world of philanthropy is every bit  as susceptible to high-flying power-plays as the for-profit world — and that a determined crook like Jeffrey Epstein can get a lot of undeserved credibility by associating with distinguished people on the inside.

与此同时，沃克继续从事她的神经外科医生工作，而盖茨，正如我们所知，已经离婚了。 但这个故事或许是一个警告，人们应该假定，慈善事业的世界与营利性世界一样容易受到天花乱坠的权力游戏的影响—像杰弗里.爱泼斯坦这样坚定的骗子可以通过与内部的杰出人士交往而获得许多不应有的信誉。