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The newest release of files related to convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are keeping scrutiny on Bill Gates and elite philanthropy, with experts saying the controversy exposes deeper tensions around wealth and moral authority.
Also in today’s edition: Aid groups in Gaza are challenging Israel’s demands for more information about their employees.
The Epstein saga isn’t just tabloid fuel — it’s forcing an awkward reckoning inside global philanthropy. As fresh document releases keep the story alive, some pundits say the discomfort should push the sector to confront how wealth, power, and virtue are intertwined.
At a staff town hall meeting on Tuesday, Gates reportedly called spending time with Epstein “a huge mistake” and apologized for bringing Gates Foundation executives into meetings with the wealthy financier, who in 2008 pleaded guilty to soliciting sex from a minor.
For critics, the issue isn’t only about reputational fallout for one foundation, but about the broader culture that elevates billionaire donors as moral arbiters of global health and development. When private wealth plays an outsized role in shaping public priorities, they argue, scrutiny of how that wealth was built — and the networks around it — becomes unavoidable.
“Hypocrisy is at the core of philanthropy, and we all have to come to terms with that,” Maribel Morey, a historian of U.S. philanthropies, tells Senior Reporter Michael Igoe.
“It’s not usually saints who become industry leaders and who amass significant amounts of wealth,” she says. “The path towards wealth accumulation is fraught from a moral perspective.”
That debate is unfolding as aid budgets shrink and foundations loom larger. The Seattle-based Gates Foundation awarded $4.5 billion in grants in 2025 and $5.4 billion the year before. “The situation and the system that we're in most of the time, honestly, you just have to kind of take the money,” says Alex Evans, a U.K.-based philanthropy consultant. “With something as massive as the Gates Foundation, and with USAID gone, what else is anyone going to do?”
Gates has denied involvement in Epstein’s crimes. But critics say this is bigger than one relationship. “What we’re talking about here is structured inequality and how power and how hegemony reproduces itself,” says Evans. “Philanthropy is deeply implicated in that.”
Read: Gates-Epstein ties expose philanthropy’s ‘hypocrisy,’ experts say (Pro)
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As bilateral donors step back from international cooperation, private foundations are stepping forward — and their clout is growing fast.
New data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development shows the world’s largest philanthropic donors spent $12.5 billion on development in 2023, up 8% from 2022. Thirty-one foundations — plus European lotteries grouped as the “Postcode Lottery Group” — reported figures. The top 10 alone accounted for $10.3 billion, a 16.4% year-on-year increase. And OECD tracks only development spending in low- and middle-income countries, so total giving is higher.
At the top sits the Gates Foundation, followed by the Mastercard Foundation and Wellcome. Our data analysts Miguel Antonio Tamonan and Alecsondra Kieren Si put together a snapshot of the top 10 philanthropies really financing development as government aid wanes — and a preview of a deeper dive report coming soon.
Readers looking to go deeper can join a Devex Pro Funding event next Thursday with Business Editor David Ainsworth and Pro Funding Editor Raquel Alcega as the full report is released.
Read: Who are the 10 largest philanthropies focused on development? (Pro)
Nineteen humanitarian organizations — including Oxfam and Médecins Sans Frontières — are asking Israel’s High Court to block an order that would force 37 aid groups to shut down next week.
The trigger: new registration rules requiring detailed disclosures on staff, funding, and operations — and barring groups that cross certain political lines, such as calling for a boycott of Israel. Some organizations complied. Many refused, arguing the requirements threaten staff safety and humanitarian neutrality, writes my colleague Elissa Miolene.
MSF, which supports 1 in 5 hospital beds in Gaza, says the pressure has been mounting for months. “Little by little, the backbone of humanitarian aid inside Gaza has been destroyed,” says Claire Nicolet, the Gaza emergency coordinator at MSF. “This is another step, a bigger step, toward trying to [block us] from operating.”
Since January, several groups have been unable to bring in new international staff or import essentials such as surgical equipment and antibiotics. “What if tomorrow, MSF is not here? What will happen, really? It’s creating a lot of tension, frustration and anxiety for our staff,” Nicolet says.
Israeli officials say the system is about preventing aid diversion. “If the organization had nothing to hide, the employee lists would have been transferred to the inter-ministerial team,” says Avi Cohen-Scali, director-general of Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism.
Some groups, including World Central Kitchen, chose to comply to keep operating. “World Central Kitchen's (WCK) priority is getting meals and essential aid to people in need with dignity and care, while maintaining the highest standards of security for everyone on the ground,” a spokesperson says.
But the United Nations is blunt: “The UN will not be able to compensate for the collapse of INGOs’ operations if they are de-registered.”
If the court doesn’t step in, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that 1 in 3 health facilities could close — and tens of thousands of patients could lose care.
Read: Aid groups petition Israel high court to halt Gaza aid shutdown
When USAID was dismantled, thousands lost their jobs — including Grace Tran, founder of Athena Insight Consulting LLC, and Taylor Williamson, director of Cadence Advisory.
Tran’s first instinct was to apply to “anything and everything.” But in a brutal market, “Consulting was kind of something that I was essentially forced into,” says Tran. “It became really clear that I was not going to find a full-time job.”
Williamson also job-hunted — then realized that in doing so, he was conducting his own market research, writes Emma Smith for Devex.
Their takeaways? Network relentlessly. “Tell everyone that you know that you're consulting.” Because “a lot of times, client acquisition happens when you're not in the room.”
And even in the busy weeks, keep prospecting by sending networking emails and posting on LinkedIn. As Williamson puts it: “Even if you're working 50 hours a week on something, set aside that hour because that will get you through some of the famine.”
Read: How two global development pros turned layoffs into consulting careers (Career)
+ We are hosting another Career Briefing with industry insiders on Tuesday, March 3. This time we’ll hear from Alder Bartlett — who lost her role at USAID after 16 years with the agency and is now chief operating officer at Oregon Housing and Community Services — on how to go from layoff to leadership and land your next mission-driven role. Register here.
This event is free for Devex Career Account members. If you aren’t one yet, you can upgrade at registration or start with a 15-day free trial now.
Strategic debt relief in the global south could fill the development funding gap caused by the U.K. aid cuts, according to new analysis from charity CAFOD. [Independent]
Médecins Sans Frontiéres wants a court-ordered probe into Israel Defense Forces attacks on its Gaza operations that killed aid workers and their families. [Haaretz]
Humanitarian aid to Cuba ramps up with shipments from Mexico and Canada while Russia considers fuel support to stabilize the island’s energy crisis. [AP and Al Jazeera]
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