Terje Rød-Larsen: The Diplomat Who Fed Epstein Intelligence

On March 28, 2011, Terje Rød-Larsen sent Epstein a thank-you note: "Thanks, Jeff, for a great day on a wonderful and totally unique place! We all loved it. Emma and Edward are ecstatic (think the four wheel drives made the strongest impression!). My mind is working on further ideas for creative development. Warmest Terje. Ps Mona blows a kiss" (EFTA02025540-1).

January 2011: Rød-Larsen wrote "Back in NY. Thanks for lunch in Dubai! Was great. When are you back?" (vol00009-efta00690095-pdf-1). By April he was asking Epstein: "do you want me to invite sultan to breakfast on sun? or would you prefer more private time?" (EFTA01868773-0). Rød-Larsen was offering to put Epstein and Sultan Bin Sulayem in a room together.

IPI ran a field intelligence operation on polio eradication in conflict zones, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Somalia, through a researcher named Nasra Hassan. Her reports went to IPI's Vienna office, then to Rød-Larsen, then to Epstein. The Gates Foundation was the funder. By February 2015 the chain was explicit: Hassan sent Rød-Larsen a Pakistan update marked "Urgent, Confi" with the instruction "plz pass on to Bill Gates." It went to Epstein first.

Nigeria was the most active thread. November 2013: Boko Haram had attacked polio workers in Kano. A northern Nigerian group was calling on President Jonathan to suspend Gates's planned visit. Rød-Larsen forwarded the report to Epstein. December 2013: IPI researcher Mark Shaw sent a two-page intelligence brief, "what we are hearing at multiple levels," about polio obstruction. It went to IPI director Andrea Pfanzelter, then Rød-Larsen, then Epstein. June 2014: IPI's formal reports on barriers to polio eradication in Nigeria and Somalia were forwarded to Epstein. Classified research on Nigerian security conditions, routed through a convicted sex offender to the world's largest private foundation.

Other material moved through the same channel. July 2014: a Kazakhstan economic advisory document, mildly edited by Lawrence Summers, forwarded to Epstein. "I've edited mildly what was sent below. Now good w me," Summers wrote (EFTA01913108-0). Rød-Larsen was also using Epstein to chase an outstanding payment dispute with media mogul Mort Zuckerman: "when you speak to mort, ask him how much he has paid me to date" (EFTA01950846-0).

Rød-Larsen was removed as IPI president in 2021 after a New York Times investigation revealed a $130,000 personal loan from Epstein. As of 2026 he is under criminal investigation by Norway's economic crimes authority Okokrim. His children were named as beneficiaries in Epstein's will, $5 million each, in a document signed two days before Epstein's death.