Boris Nikolic

Nikolic's formal relationship with Bill Gates ran through bgC3, Gates's private think tank and research office, where Nikolic held the title of Chief Science Advisor ³. The role connected him to Gates Foundation scientific program officers and grantmaking workflows ³.

A December 2010 email from Gates to Nikolic reads: "I wont be able to do the dinner with Jeff Epstein. I was looking forward to the dinner. Nathan had agreed with you that I would enjoy meeting with him" ¹⁵. The message documents that Nikolic was the routing contact for at least one planned Gates–Epstein meeting in 2010 ¹.

On September 3, 2013, Gates and Nikolic executed a Letter of Agreement Regarding Purchase of Partnership Interest covering co-investments in Foundation Medicine and ResearchGate, with Nikolic serving as an observer board member at Foundation Medicine ²⁶. The partnership payment period was extended to September 3, 2018 by amendment dated October 6, 2015 ². The agreement appeared in Epstein's email corpus, which indicates it was shared with Epstein by one of the signatories or a person with access to Nikolic's files ²⁶.

Eight days after the partnership was executed, on September 11, 2013, Nikolic attended the IPI–Gates Foundation meeting at the Gates campus in Redmond, listed on the agenda as "Scientific Advisor" ³⁷. The meeting concerned the International Peace Institute polio eradication grant proposal, which later became Gates Foundation grant OPP1096058 at $2.5 million ³. Cross-reference of the September 2013 meeting agenda and the IPI grant record places Nikolic inside the Gates organization at the point where Epstein's IPI grant brokering intersected with Foundation review ³.

Cross-reference of seven EFTA email records from 2011–2015 indicates Nikolic's contacts with Epstein extended beyond the professional sphere ⁸. Records show Nikolic transmitted an NDA for 9 East 71st Street, Epstein's Manhattan residence, to Epstein in April 2011 ⁸. Cross-reference of records shows an August 6, 2013 email from Lesley Groff to Nikolic identifying the tail number of Epstein's plane and referencing Karyna Shuliak updating him on timing ⁸⁹, with the body reading "The tail # Of Jeffrey's plane is N9091" and continuing "Karyna can update you tomorrow on exact ti=ing since she will be with" ⁸⁹. A breakfast at the 71st Street residence on July 11, 2015 is confirmed in the corpus ¹⁰.

On January 24, 2013, Nikolic emailed Epstein: "Yesterday, I wanted to punch a guy yesterday that does not like you. From Highbridge capital"; Epstein replied "better than punching him, get his name" ¹¹¹². The exchange shows Nikolic reporting perceived hostility toward Epstein inside a financial firm and Epstein requesting identification of the critic ¹¹.

Records show that on June 15, 2015 Nikolic wrote to Epstein that his next message would introduce "=lya Ponamarov", described as "a member of Duma" ⁸¹³. Analysis of the referenced figure indicates Ilya Ponomarev was then a Russian State Duma member living in exile ⁸. Review of the records shows no subsequent Epstein–Ponomarev correspondence has been identified in the corpus ⁸.

Cross-reference of seven EFTA records indicates Epstein obtained WEF Annual Meeting participant lists for 2011 and 2013 from Nikolic and used those contacts for introductions ¹⁴. EFTA records show Nikolic emailing Epstein the WEF AM11 participants list on January 18 and January 19, 2011, and the WEF AM13 participants list on January 17, 2013 with the message "Pls check if =here is anyone that I should meet" ¹⁵¹⁶¹⁷. Records show a June 27, 2014 email from Nicole Junkermann to Epstein stating "I spoke to boris he will do is bestand co-sponsor me but he had nominated...", which cross-reference of the seven-record synthesis identifies as Nikolic's role in a WEF nomination ¹⁴¹⁸.

Cross-reference of three EFTA email threads from 2012–2017 indicates Nikolic was the recurring contact point between Kimbal Musk and Epstein ¹⁹. Cross-reference of those threads produced the synthesis set out below ¹⁹.

Records show a September 2012 email thread in which a gala invitation was routed through Nikolic to Epstein and associates ¹⁹²⁰. Records show an October 2012 exchange documenting a lunch at Epstein's 71st Street residence at which Kimbal Musk is recorded as an invitee, with logistics coordinated between Epstein's assistant Lesley Groff and Kimbal's assistant ¹⁹²¹. Records show a February 2013 thread in which Kimbal Musk shared news of his divorce with Nikolic, who then relayed it to Epstein ¹⁹²². Records show that in April 2017 Nikolic wrote to Epstein from TED: "Kimbal, elon, and few new interesting for you are around here" ¹⁹.

A separate record documents that Epstein held $5 million in preferred stock in Jawbone (AliphCom), that Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman corresponded directly with Epstein from at least 2013 through July 2018, and that Nikolic facilitated the Jawbone connection ^23242526. Cross-reference of the Kimbal Musk correspondence and the Jawbone record indicates Nikolic was the recurring connective contact between Epstein's technology interests and several Silicon Valley principals during this period ¹⁹²³.

The 1953 Trust, named for Epstein's birth year, was executed on August 8, 2019, two days before Epstein's death ⁴. Primary trustees were Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn ⁴. The trust instrument states: "BORIS NIKOLIC shall be appointed to fill any such vacancy, and if he is unwilling or unable to serve, BARNABY MARSH shall be appointed to fill any such vacancy" ⁴²⁷. Nikolic publicly stated he was surprised by the designation and declined to serve ⁴.

The full succession chain set out in Finding #378 is Indyke and Kahn as primary trustees, Nikolic as first alternate, Barnaby Marsh as second, Anthony Barrett as third, Kathy Ruemmler as fourth, David Mitchell as fifth, Steve Hanson as sixth, and Eva Dubin as seventh ²⁸. The ordering places Nikolic ahead of Ruemmler, who had served as Epstein's lawyer for five years and was named trustee of a separate instrument ²⁸. The trust was executed forty-eight hours before Epstein's August 10, 2019 death at the Metropolitan Correctional Center ⁴²⁸.

Cross-reference of connection records and findings identifies four clusters of Nikolic contacts in the Epstein graph ³⁸¹⁴.

Gates philanthropic network. Via bgC3, Nikolic had working access to Gates Foundation scientific advisory processes and grant pipelines, including the September 11, 2013 IPI–Gates meeting at which he was listed as Scientific Advisor ³⁷. He co-invested with Gates in Foundation Medicine and ResearchGate under the September 3, 2013 partnership agreement ²⁶. See Jeffrey Epstein and International Peace Institute.

Silicon Valley investment contacts. Connection records show a Thiel–Nikolic tie on a shared Epstein schedule in October 2014, with Thiel at 12 pm and Nikolic at 2 pm ²⁹³⁰. See Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen.

Kimbal Musk and Jawbone. Cross-reference of the Kimbal Musk email threads and the Jawbone record is set out in the preceding section; see Kimbal Musk ¹⁹²³.

Apollo contacts. A connection record places Nikolic on an Epstein calendar shared with Joshua Harris during the documented period of Apollo’s engagement with Epstein ³¹. See also Leon Black.

WEF participation. Records show EFTA emails from January 2011 and January 2013 in which Nikolic forwarded WEF Annual Meeting participant lists to Epstein ¹⁵¹⁶¹⁷. Cross-reference of seven EFTA records indicates Nikolic also played a role in a WEF nomination for Nicole Junkermann alongside Larry Summers ¹⁴¹⁸.