Skip to main content
Search
< All Topics
Print

Boris Nikolic

Updated
ByEpsteinWiki
Views2115
Boris Nikolic

Physician, biotechnology investor, former Bill Gates science adviser, Jeffrey Epstein correspondent, and rejected successor executor of Epstein’s estate

Snapshot

Full name: Boris Nikolic

Profession: Physician, immunologist, biotechnology investor, and venture capitalist

Education: Medical degree from the University of Zagreb School of Medicine

Academic background: Postdoctoral training in transplantation immunology at Harvard Medical School and former assistant professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School

Former position: Chief adviser for science and technology to Bill Gates

Corporate role: Cofounder of Biomatics Capital

Documented Epstein relationship: Direct correspondent, social associate, financial adviser or negotiating participant, elite network intermediary, and named successor executor

Period documented in the released records: At least 2010 through 2015, with Nikolic named in Epstein’s final will in August 2019

Legal status: The cited public record does not identify any criminal charge or conviction against Nikolic arising from his relationship with Epstein

Important distinction: The records establish sustained contact, explicit correspondence, introductions involving a woman in Epstein’s network, financial negotiations, and an estate appointment. They do not establish that Nikolic participated in Epstein’s sexual abuse or knew the ages and circumstances of every woman discussed.

Key Takeaways

  • Nikolic was not merely a name unexpectedly placed in Epstein’s will. Released emails document years of direct, personal, financial, and social communication between the two men after Epstein’s 2008 conviction.
  • Nikolic helped connect Bill Gates with Epstein and served as an important bridge between Epstein and Gates’s scientific, philanthropic, and investment network.
  • A 2011 photograph places Nikolic at Epstein’s Manhattan residence with Gates, JPMorgan executive Jes Staley, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, and Epstein.
  • In a February 2013 email, Nikolic asked Epstein for photographs of Little Saint James that included nude or partly nude women. See EFTA01907774.
  • Other emails show Nikolic using sexualized language about young models, requesting sexual photographs, and exchanging comments about women with Epstein. See EFTA00711589 and EFTA01791716.
  • In 2012, Nikolic helped arrange an introduction between Kimbal Musk and a woman connected to Epstein. The woman has since said through counsel that Epstein coerced and abused her. The emails do not establish that Nikolic knew she was being abused.
  • Financial records show Epstein involving himself in Nikolic’s departure from Gates’s private office and in the negotiations that eventually supported Nikolic’s biotechnology investment business.
  • An August 2013 email proposed that Gates lend Nikolic $10 million as part of a release and investment arrangement. See EFTA02573049.
  • Epstein’s final will, signed on August 8, 2019, named Nikolic as successor executor if Darren Indyke or Richard Kahn could not serve. Nikolic said the appointment was a complete surprise and formally declined it.
  • The estate appointment did not make Nikolic an executor, trustee, or beneficiary. He never qualified to serve and received no executor authority from the appointment.

Overview

Boris Nikolic is a Croatian born physician and biotechnology investor who became one of Bill Gates’s most influential science advisers. His professional position gave him access to major philanthropic institutions, biotechnology companies, investors, scientists, government officials, and global health programs.

Released records show that Jeffrey Epstein cultivated Nikolic as both a personal contact and an access point into Gates’s network.

The relationship developed after Epstein had pleaded guilty in Florida to offenses involving a minor. Emails from 2010 onward show direct discussions about Gates, Prince Andrew, Nicolas Sarkozy’s political circle, JPMorgan, scientists, potential investments, social events, women, and Epstein’s private island.

Nikolic also used Epstein as an intermediary. He asked Epstein for introductions, discussed Gates’s preferences, shared information from inside Gates’s circle, and consulted Epstein during negotiations over his departure from Gates’s private office.

Epstein used the relationship in the opposite direction. He relied upon Nikolic to secure access to Gates, Gates Foundation personnel, technology investors, and scientific projects. He also presented Nikolic to other contacts as Gates’s right hand.

The evidence establishes a close and consequential association. It does not establish that Nikolic participated in Epstein’s sexual abuse. However, some of Nikolic’s own messages are directly relevant to understanding how Epstein’s social world normalized sexualized discussions about women after his conviction.

Identity Verification

The Boris Nikolic connected to Epstein is a physician and biotechnology investor. He should not be confused with the Serbian fashion designer Boris Nikolić, who died in 2008.

The Epstein associated Nikolic received a medical degree from the University of Zagreb School of Medicine. He later completed postdoctoral training in transplantation immunology at Harvard Medical School and served as an assistant professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard.

Nikolic became chief adviser for science and technology to Bill Gates. He worked with Gates’s private office, the Gates associated research organization bgC3, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

His work involved biotechnology, genetics, pharmaceuticals, global health, and scientific investment. He participated in major investments involving companies such as Editas Medicine and Twist Bioscience.

Nikolic later cofounded Biomatics Capital, a life sciences investment firm. Contemporary industry coverage described him as a physician investor focused on genomics, biotechnology, digital health, and medical innovation.

His professional identity is confirmed across corporate records, investment reporting, scientific biographies, photographs, Epstein correspondence, and the official probate record containing Epstein’s final will.

Documented Epstein Connection

The earliest currently established direct correspondence between Nikolic and Epstein dates to at least 2010. This means the documented relationship occurred after Epstein’s 2008 conviction and registration as a sex offender.

The communications were not limited to a single professional subject.

They included:

  • Gates and Gates Foundation business
  • JPMorgan executives
  • Scientific research and biotechnology investments
  • Global health projects
  • Social dinners and private gatherings
  • Introductions to wealthy and influential people
  • Travel and island logistics
  • Discussions about women and photographs
  • Nikolic’s departure from Gates’s private office
  • Investment and loan proposals
  • Access to public officials and international figures

In an April 2010 communication, Epstein described Nikolic to Jes Staley as Gates’s right hand and directed Staley to focus his questions on Nikolic. Ellie Leonard preserved this exchange in her review of the JPMorgan emails, Follow the Money, The JP Morgan Emails 2010.

A widely published 2011 photograph shows Staley, Larry Summers, Epstein, Gates, and Nikolic together at Epstein’s Manhattan residence. The photograph corroborates that Nikolic participated in an important meeting that placed Epstein with senior figures from banking, government, philanthropy, and technology.

Nikolic’s direct emails with Epstein continued through the following years. A September 2015 message from Nikolic told Epstein that he was only a few blocks away and wanted to say hello. See EFTA00846064.

The surviving record therefore contradicts any description of Nikolic as someone connected to Epstein only because his name appeared in the 2019 will.

Evidence Appearances

The Gates introduction and access network

Gates told House investigators in 2026 that he first met Epstein in 2011 following an introduction by Nikolic. Gates acknowledged knowing that Epstein had a criminal conviction of a sexual nature, although he said he did not understand the full details at the time.

Nikolic occupied an unusually valuable position between the two men. He had access to Gates’s private office and scientific interests while maintaining a direct relationship with Epstein.

Epstein repeatedly represented Nikolic to others as Gates’s closest scientific adviser. He used Nikolic’s name when attempting to arrange discussions involving Gates, JPMorgan, philanthropy, science, and investment.

Ellie Leonard’s Follow the Money, The JP Morgan Emails 2011 documents the Gates, Nikolic, Staley, Summers, and Epstein meeting within the wider JPMorgan correspondence.

The evidence supports describing Nikolic as an intermediary between Epstein and Gates. It does not establish that every contact between Gates and Epstein passed through Nikolic.

Gates Foundation engagement with Epstein

The records show Gates Foundation personnel evaluating or communicating with Epstein after his conviction.

In one email concerning Gates Foundation deputy director Gabrielle Fitzgerald, Nikolic joked that she was conducting due diligence on Epstein. See EFTA02546928.

The language is significant because it shows that Nikolic knew Foundation personnel were evaluating Epstein as a potential donor or partner. The communication also reflects the familiar tone between Nikolic and Epstein.

Tim Schwab’s The Epstein Files Should End Bill Gates’s Philanthropic Career places the Nikolic correspondence within the Gates Foundation’s wider institutional engagement with Epstein.

Schwab argues that these relationships gave Epstein credibility within global health and elite philanthropy. That institutional normalization occurred despite Epstein’s public conviction involving a minor.

Global health and polio projects

Released photographs and correspondence place Nikolic, Epstein, Gates, and diplomat Terje Rød Larsen within discussions involving global health and polio initiatives.

Tim Schwab’s How Epstein and Gates Harmed Public Health and Global Philanthropy examines Nikolic’s role in the Gates Foundation orbit and the access Epstein obtained through global health projects.

The evidence establishes contact, project discussions, and access. Claims that a particular health initiative served an intelligence purpose require separate evidence and should not be inferred solely from the participation of Epstein or Nikolic.

May 2011 correspondence involving Sam Jaradeh

On May 23, 2011, Boris Nikolic forwarded Jeffrey Epstein an email chain headed “Thank you!” and wrote that the group had attended a U2 concert in Denver. The forwarded chain includes Sam Jaradeh thanking the recipients for the weekend and saying that he and Boris had enjoyed it. Nikolic is named in the sender header and in the quoted correspondence. See EFTA01165402, page 1.

A separate May 21, 2011 exchange between Jaradeh and Epstein refers to a person only as “Boris.” The May 23 record provides context for a possible connection to Nikolic, but the reviewed May 21 chain does not give a surname, and no record conclusively identifying its “Boris” as Nikolic has been established. The two chains do not confirm that identification. See EFTA01795173, page 1, and its duplicate EFTA00911639, page 1.

These records do not establish anyone’s age or that abuse occurred.

David Geffen introductions

Nikolic also sought Epstein’s assistance in reaching entertainment executive David Geffen.

On June 24, 2011, Nikolic asked Epstein whether he knew Geffen. See EFTA00914393.

In July, Nikolic told Epstein that he wanted to get Geffen to a dinner with Gates and asked Epstein not to disclose that objective. See EFTA00915212.

Epstein responded that he was working on gaining access to Geffen and referred to additional intermediaries. See EFTA00878405.

These exchanges illustrate the reciprocal nature of the relationship. Nikolic offered Epstein access to Gates. Epstein offered Nikolic access to wealthy, influential, and culturally powerful people.

Sexualized email about Little Saint James

A February 2013 email from Nikolic asked Epstein to send photographs of his private island and house. Nikolic added that Epstein should include photographs of two women who were nude or partly nude. See EFTA01907774.

A duplicate or related production appears in EFTA02521962.

This message establishes that Nikolic knew women were present at Epstein’s island and felt comfortable asking Epstein for sexual photographs of them.

The email does not identify the women’s ages. It therefore cannot independently establish that the requested photographs involved minors. It also does not prove that Epstein fulfilled the request.

The message remains significant because Nikolic sent it years after Epstein’s conviction for an offense involving a minor and while Epstein continued abusing women and girls.

Other sexualized exchanges

The island photograph request was not an isolated example.

In a January 2011 email, Nikolic told Epstein that middle aged businessmen were not his preference and that he wanted young models. The same message included a reference to Russian sex workers. See EFTA00711589.

In April 2011, Nikolic requested sexual photographs involving Melanie Walker. See EFTA01791716.

A July 2010 exchange concerned photographs of a woman and included Epstein describing another person as younger and smarter. See EFTA02409685.

These emails document a sustained channel of personal and sexualized communication. They do not establish the ages of the people discussed or prove that Nikolic participated in abuse.

Kimbal Musk and a woman connected to Epstein

One of the most consequential email sequences concerns Kimbal Musk and a woman in Epstein’s network.

In September 2012, Nikolic told Epstein that he had spoken with Musk about birthday plans. Nikolic said Epstein should bring the woman and suggested that Musk might abandon an existing romantic relationship for her. Nikolic then instructed Epstein to prepare the woman for the meeting. See EFTA02007083.

Later messages show Nikolic reporting that Musk liked the woman and joking about distracting Musk’s former partner. After Musk and the woman spent time together, Musk thanked Epstein and Nikolic for connecting them.

Nikolic warned Musk to treat the woman well because Epstein became angry when someone mistreated his women or friends.

The woman and Musk dated for several months. During that period, she remained in private communication with Epstein and sought his advice about the relationship.

The woman has since stated through her attorney that Epstein coerced and abused her. Her identity is not necessary to evaluate Nikolic’s documented participation in arranging the introduction.

The released correspondence proves that Nikolic helped arrange the introduction. It does not prove that Nikolic knew the woman was being coerced or abused.

The episode is important because it shows Nikolic participating in Epstein’s management of relationships involving a woman over whom Epstein allegedly exercised control. See The Guardian’s investigation and the underlying email in EFTA02007083.

Island logistics involving the Gates family

A February 2013 communication shows Epstein discussing the possibility of Gates, Melinda French Gates, and their children visiting Little Saint James. Epstein said helicopter transportation and customs arrangements could be provided. See EFTA00875463.

The message documents an invitation and proposed logistics. It does not establish that the Gates family accepted the invitation or visited the island.

Nikolic’s separate request for island photographs should not be converted into proof that he visited Little Saint James. The correspondence establishes familiarity with the property, not physical presence there.

Nikolic’s departure from Gates’s private office

Nikolic announced his departure from Gates’s organization in September 2013. A forwarded leadership transition message appears in EFTA02574914.

The released correspondence shows Epstein becoming involved in negotiations surrounding Nikolic’s departure, compensation, future investments, and separation agreement.

A document associated with the negotiations refers to Nikolic, Epstein, and bgC3, the Gates linked scientific organization. See EFTA02730265.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Epstein inserted himself into the negotiations between Gates and Nikolic and helped structure an arrangement that contributed to the formation of Nikolic’s biotechnology investment operation.

Proposed $10 million financing arrangement

In August 2013, Epstein sent Nikolic and attorney Larry Cohen a proposed structure in which Gates would lend Nikolic $10 million. The proposal involved releasing future claims or interests connected to an investment partnership. See EFTA02573049.

Another message referred to work Epstein said he had performed for Nikolic and discussed a proposed solution to Epstein’s own financial issues. See EFTA01843250.

These communications conflict with the broad impression created by a 2019 statement from Nikolic’s representative that Nikolic and Epstein had no business ties.

The documents do not necessarily prove that the proposed loan closed or that Epstein received compensation. They do establish that Epstein participated in financial planning and negotiations affecting Nikolic.

Biomatics Capital

Nikolic established Biomatics Capital after leaving Gates’s private office. The firm invested in biotechnology, genomics, diagnostics, medical devices, and digital health companies.

The Wall Street Journal reported in 2026 that Epstein helped arrange Gates’s investment in a biotechnology fund associated with Nikolic.

The available correspondence supports Epstein’s involvement in the separation and proposed financing discussions. The precise legal and financial role Epstein ultimately held in Biomatics must be determined from executed agreements and payment records rather than draft proposals alone.

Unsent drafts written by Epstein

The released files contain disturbing drafts written by Epstein as if they were communications from Nikolic.

Those drafts made allegations about Gates’s private life, sexual relationships, drug requests, and medical matters. Gates has denied the claims.

The evidence does not establish that Nikolic wrote, approved, received, or knew about those drafts. They should therefore be treated as Epstein’s writings and allegations, not statements by Nikolic.

Gates told Congress in 2026 that he believed Nikolic informed Epstein about two extramarital relationships. That is Gates’s account of how Epstein obtained the information. It is not a finding that Nikolic participated in Epstein’s later efforts to pressure Gates.

Epstein’s final will

Epstein signed his final will on August 8, 2019, two days before his death in federal custody.

The will named Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn as executors.

It named Nikolic as successor executor if one or both of the primary executors failed to qualify, became unable to serve, or stopped serving. See the official Virgin Islands probate filing.

Nikolic was not named as a beneficiary in the will. He was not appointed as a trustee of the 1953 Trust. The document gave him no immediate authority because Indyke and Kahn qualified as executors.

Nikolic’s representative said he was shocked by the appointment, had never been consulted, and had no intention of serving.

In September 2019, Nikolic formally filed a declination to serve as successor executor. He therefore never became an acting executor of Epstein’s estate.

Relevant Timeline

Before 2010: Nikolic establishes a career in medicine, immunology, biotechnology, and scientific investment and becomes an adviser to Bill Gates.

2010: Direct emails document social, political, and professional discussions between Nikolic and Epstein. Epstein describes Nikolic to Jes Staley as Gates’s right hand.

July 2010: Epstein and Nikolic discuss photographs and women. See EFTA02409685.

January 2011: Nikolic uses sexualized language about young models and Russian sex workers in an email to Epstein. See EFTA00711589.

2011: Nikolic participates in the relationship that introduces Gates to Epstein.

2011: Nikolic, Gates, Epstein, Staley, and Summers attend a gathering at Epstein’s Manhattan residence.

April 2011: Nikolic requests sexual photographs involving Melanie Walker. See EFTA01791716.

June and July 2011: Nikolic asks Epstein to help secure David Geffen for a dinner with Gates. See EFTA00914393 and EFTA00915212.

September 2012: Nikolic and Epstein coordinate the introduction of Kimbal Musk to a woman connected to Epstein. See EFTA02007083.

October 2012: Musk thanks Epstein and Nikolic for connecting him with the woman.

February 2013: Nikolic asks Epstein for island photographs that include nude or partly nude women. See EFTA01907774.

February 2013: Epstein discusses possible helicopter and customs arrangements for a Gates family visit to Little Saint James. See EFTA00875463.

August 2013: Epstein proposes a $10 million loan and release structure involving Gates and Nikolic. See EFTA02573049.

September 2013: Nikolic announces his departure from Gates’s private office. See EFTA02574914.

2013 and 2014: Epstein participates in discussions concerning Nikolic’s separation agreement and future investment structure.

2014: Nikolic’s work with Gates’s private office ends.

2015: Nikolic continues communicating directly with Epstein. See EFTA00846064.

2016: Nikolic and Julie Sunderland launch Biomatics Capital.

August 8, 2019: Epstein signs his final will and names Nikolic as successor executor.

August 10, 2019: Epstein dies in federal custody.

August 2019: Nikolic says he was never consulted about the appointment and will not serve.

September 2019: Nikolic formally declines to serve as successor executor.

2019: Public disclosure of the relationship causes professional fallout. Nikolic resigns from corporate boards and Biomatics Capital is later unwound.

2024 and 2025: According to STAT, Nikolic begins rebuilding his investment career and raises more than $100 million for a new fund with assistance from biotechnology investor Alexis Borisy.

January through March 2026: Newly released emails reveal Nikolic’s explicit correspondence, the Kimbal Musk introduction, the Gates negotiations, and the scope of his post conviction relationship with Epstein.

June 2026: Gates tells House investigators that Nikolic introduced him to Epstein and that he believes Nikolic informed Epstein about Gates’s extramarital relationships.

Legal Status and Evidence Limits

The cited public record does not identify any criminal charge or conviction against Nikolic connected to Epstein.

No known survivor has publicly accused Nikolic of sexually assaulting her.

The released records nevertheless establish several facts that require scrutiny:

  • Nikolic communicated regularly with Epstein after Epstein’s conviction.
  • He used sexualized language with Epstein about women and models.
  • He asked Epstein for nude or partly nude photographs of women on Little Saint James.
  • He helped introduce a woman connected to Epstein to Kimbal Musk.
  • The woman later stated that Epstein had coerced and abused her.
  • Nikolic provided Epstein with access to Gates’s scientific and philanthropic network.
  • He sought introductions and financial assistance through Epstein.
  • Epstein participated in negotiations affecting Nikolic’s departure from Gates’s private office.
  • Epstein named Nikolic as successor executor in his final will.

Each fact has limits.

The emails do not identify the ages of every woman discussed. They do not prove that Nikolic received the requested photographs. They do not prove that he knew the woman introduced to Musk was being coerced. Draft financial proposals do not prove that a transaction closed. A named successor executor has no authority unless the appointment becomes effective and the person qualifies to serve.

Nikolic’s claim that the executor appointment surprised him is not disproved merely because he had a close relationship with Epstein. Epstein could legally name someone without obtaining advance consent.

However, the broader correspondence makes clear why Epstein considered Nikolic sufficiently trusted or useful to place in the succession clause. The appointment was not made in a factual vacuum.

Automated document counts should not be used as a measure of conduct or culpability. Current databases report radically different totals because they count duplicate productions, email fragments, attachments, quoted chains, extracted names, and repeated court records differently.

Sleuth and Independent Reporting

Greg Conners’s The Bridges Epstein Built: People identifies Nikolic as a major bridge connecting Epstein to Gates, scientific institutions, global health initiatives, and biotechnology investments.

The strongest part of Conners’s analysis is the access structure. Nikolic’s value to Epstein was not limited to one introduction. His position allowed Epstein to move between Gates’s private office, the Gates Foundation, scientists, investors, bankers, and global policy figures.

Ellie Leonard’s Follow the Money, The JP Morgan Emails 2010 documents Epstein describing Nikolic as Gates’s right hand during correspondence with Jes Staley.

Leonard’s Follow the Money, The JP Morgan Emails 2011 places Nikolic within the photographed meeting involving Gates, Staley, Summers, and Epstein.

Her Michael Wolff’s Emails to Jeffrey Epstein also documents Epstein offering Michael Wolff access to Nikolic during a series of elite gatherings at Epstein’s Manhattan residence in 2014.

Tim Schwab’s The Epstein Files Should End Bill Gates’s Philanthropic Career examines Nikolic as a central intermediary between Epstein and the Gates Foundation.

Schwab’s How Epstein and Gates Harmed Public Health and Global Philanthropy evaluates the institutional consequences of allowing Epstein to participate in global health and philanthropic networks after his conviction.

R. Howard Stone’s Sleuthsletter reviewed the reporting about Nikolic’s bridge role and emphasized the importance of checking every claimed connection against the underlying EFTA document. That approach is particularly important where large document indexes contain duplicate email chains or where a cited record does not contain the name attributed to it.

The Wall Street Journal’s 2026 investigation, How Epstein Inserted Himself Into a Split Between Bill Gates and a Top Gates Adviser, documents Epstein’s role in the negotiations between Gates and Nikolic.

STAT’s investigation reports that Nikolic suffered substantial professional consequences after 2019 but later returned to biotechnology investing with support from influential venture capitalist Alexis Borisy.

Independent reporting provides context and helps locate relevant records. Conclusions about Nikolic should remain anchored to the emails, photographs, probate filings, and testimony.

Related EpsteinWiki Pages

Sources

Primary Epstein Records

Court and Government Records

Sleuth Substacks and Independent Investigations

News and Industry Reporting

Posted
ByEpsteinWiki
Tags:
Previous Ben Goertzel
Next Dan Ariely and Jeffrey Epstein: Access, Favors, and the Limits of “Only Four Encounters”
Table of Contents