Nathan Myhrvold

Nathan Myhrvold is a former Microsoft chief technology officer who became Microsoft’s first CTO in 1996, founded Microsoft Research in 1991, and later co-founded the patent firm Intellectual Ventures in 2000 and the nuclear-energy company TerraPower. He is also a working scientist, a prize-winning wildlife photographer, and the principal author of the Modernist Cuisine cookbook series.

Reporting on the Epstein files indicates that Epstein and Myhrvold frequently emailed each other and regularly met, both in Seattle and New York City, from at least 2010 to 2018, that Myhrvold invited Epstein to visit Intellectual Ventures in 2014, that he visited Epstein’s U.S. Virgin Islands compound in 2011, and that he contributed wildlife photographs to Epstein’s 2003 birthday book. KUOW reported that emails between the two contained “sexually explicit” joking language, including one exchange in which Myhrvold suggested Epstein “bring her” to visit an Intellectual Ventures lab and Epstein replied, “I’m going to leave her there,” and that Myhrvold’s name appeared in Epstein’s 2003 birthday book. The Spokesman-Review reported that Myhrvold was listed as a passenger on Epstein’s private plane on two 1990s flights (December 9, 1996, and January 11, 1997), was named as a contributor to the 2003 birthday book with a letter containing graphic animal imagery, and was listed in Epstein’s address book.

In response to the reporting, Myhrvold said through a spokesperson, as quoted by The Spokesman-Review: “Mr. Myhrvold knew him from TED conferences and as a donor to basic scientific research. He regrets that he ever met him.” He has denied involvement in Epstein’s criminal activities. KUOW reported that it had not heard of any Epstein victims accusing Myhrvold of unlawful behavior, nor seen evidence in the emails suggesting crimes.

Is Nathan Myhrvold in the Epstein files?

Yes. Nathan Myhrvold, the former Microsoft CTO and co-founder of Intellectual Ventures, is named in records connected to Jeffrey Epstein, including emails, flight logs, an address book, and a 2003 birthday book, according to the sources cited above. Being named in these documents is not evidence of any crime or wrongdoing. People appear in the Epstein files in many contexts — correspondence, flight logs, contact books, photographs, or passing references. Myhrvold has said through a spokesperson that he knew Epstein from TED conferences and as a donor to scientific research and that he regrets ever meeting him, and reporting to date has not described any allegation of unlawful conduct against him.

Documents

Primary-source records that name or reference Nathan Myhrvold. Inclusion in these documents is not, by itself, evidence of wrongdoing; reporting to date has described no allegation of unlawful conduct against Myhrvold, who has said he regrets ever meeting Epstein.

• Giuffre v. Maxwell — unsealed court records (Jan. 2024) — Myhrvold is named once, in passing, in a filing in this civil case (U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y., No. 1:15-cv-07433) that lists academics and public figures “associated with Mr. Epstein” — alongside Lawrence Summers, Stephen Hawking, Steven Pinker and others. No allegation against Myhrvold attaches to the reference.
• Epstein flight logs — Pilot manifests for Epstein’s aircraft, released by the DOJ in February 2025, list Myhrvold as a passenger on two 1990s flights (December 9, 1996, and January 11, 1997), per The Spokesman-Review.
• House Oversight Committee — additional Epstein estate documents (2025) — The estate materials released by the committee include the 2003 birthday book, to which Myhrvold contributed, according to The Spokesman-Review and KUOW.