Dossier

International Peace Institute

IPI functioned as a UN-adjacent institutional platform that provided Jeffrey Epstein with diplomatic legitimacy, high-level governmental access, and a pass-through conduit for directing philanthropic capital from figures including Leon Black and the Gates Foundation, while its Norwegian-led presidency created a bridge between Scandinavian government funding and Epstein's private financial architecture.

Aliases: IPI

Jeffrey Epstein Silicon Valley Defense Complex

33 findings 23 connections 0 entities

Snapshot

Updated: 2026-03-04T17:01:22

Findings: 33

Connections: 23

Entities: 0

Related Dossiers

Enhanced Education Terje Rod-Larsen Leon Black Gratitude America Ltd Jeffrey Epstein Southern Trust Company Inc

The Gulf Intelligence Web The Parallel Diplomatic Corps

Applicable Models

narrative-shield enabler-gradient manufactured-dependency bridge-tax parallel-financial-system

Open Questions

What is the substance of the sealed qui tam whistleblower complaint (Case No. 0:22-cv-03127, D. Minn.) filed against IPI in December 2022, and does it relate to misrepresentation of donor sources on federal grant applications or to the Epstein-conduit funding?

What were the specific Norwegian government funding amounts to IPI in each year, and did any changes in Norwegian appropriations correlate with Rod-Larsen's communications with Epstein about IPI's financial needs?

What caused the anomalous $8.07 million deficit in 2011 -- specifically, was it an investment loss, an accounting adjustment, or the departure of a major donor -- and does it relate to any change in the Epstein-IPI financial relationship?

Who are the individuals on IPI's Mongolia Advisory Board beyond those already identified (Rod-Larsen, Summers, Barak, Bondevik, Rudd), and were their $100,000 annual payments funded through Epstein-controlled entities or through IPI's general operating budget?

What was the full scope of Rod-Larsen's visa recommendation letters for women connected to Epstein, as reported by Al Jazeera/OCCRP in February 2026, and how many IPI employees were placed through Epstein's recruitment pipeline?

The International Peace Institute (IPI) is a New York-based international policy think tank, headquartered at 777 United Nations Plaza, that traces its origins to the Trygve Lie Center for Peace, Security and Development. Registered as a 501(c)(3) with EIN 03-0213226, IPI historically operated on annual revenues exceeding $11 million, funded by Scandinavian governments (Norway and Sweden were designated "donor countries"), the Gates Foundation, the Open Society Foundations, and private philanthropists. Under the two-decade presidency of Norwegian diplomat Terje Rod-Larsen, IPI maintained advisory boards that included 33 sitting members of the U.S. Congress, former heads of state, and foreign ministers, providing a nexus between the United Nations diplomatic community and Western political establishments.

DOJ Volume 11 records and a December 2020 KPMG forensic review reveal that Jeffrey Epstein was not merely a donor to IPI but a structural architect of its funding relationships. KPMG confirmed five donations totaling $650,000 from Epstein-controlled entities Enhanced Education and Gratitude America Ltd between 2011 and 2019, with all Gratitude America checks drawn on Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas. Beyond direct donations, Epstein brokered IPI's largest institutional relationship: in June 2013, he forwarded IPI bank wiring instructions to Boris Nikolic, Bill Gates's science advisor, with the note "These are the wiring instructions for the 5 million from the foundatoin. for IPI" ¹. The Gates Foundation subsequently awarded a $2.5 million grant (OPP1096058) signed March 2014, after a full-day negotiation meeting at the Gates campus that Nikolic attended. Leon Black separately donated $200,000 in December 2014, a contribution tracked by Epstein's accountant Richard Kahn alongside Black's other Epstein-directed charitable giving ². In total, Epstein was responsible for directing an estimated $5.86 million or more in funding to IPI.

IPI's financial trajectory after the Epstein relationship became public documents the institutional cost of that dependency. Revenue peaked at $11.87 million in 2014 and declined steadily, collapsing to $3.93 million in 2020 following Rod-Larsen's resignation and the KPMG review. Assets fell 73 percent, from $25.6 million in 2010 to $6.91 million in 2023, and IPI ran a cumulative deficit of approximately $16.5 million over the 2010-2023 period. A qui tam (False Claims Act) whistleblower lawsuit was filed against IPI in December 2022 in the District of Minnesota (Case No. 0:22-cv-03127), and the organization has zero FARA or LDA registrations despite receiving foreign government funding and hosting Congressional advisory programs -- an anomalous regulatory posture for an entity of its profile and activities.

Epstein as Funding Architect

The documentary record from DOJ Volume 11 reveals that Epstein's relationship to IPI extended far beyond charitable donation. He operated as the organization's primary external fundraiser, donor liaison, and de facto strategic advisor to Rod-Larsen. On January 31, 2011, Epstein emailed Rod-Larsen: "I have bill gates for the nxt two days.. I know what i am supposed to say re ipi.. any specific challenge?" ³. By April 2013, the pitch had matured: "get me the info on ipi, to give to bg" ⁴. By January 2014, Rod-Larsen wrote Epstein celebrating that "the International Peace Institute (IPI), now can celebrate ⁵ years of cooperation with the Gates Foundation" and proposed a joint lunch at Davos ⁶.

The mechanics of the Gates relationship are unusually well-documented. On June 10, 2013, Epstein forwarded IPI's JPMorgan Chase wiring instructions to Boris Nikolic with the note about "the 5 million from the foundatoin" ¹. On September 11, 2013, IPI and Gates Foundation staff held a full-day meeting at the Gates campus; Nikolic attended as "Scientific Advisor" ⁷. IPI had submitted a $20 million proposal for polio eradication work across Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Somalia ⁸, but the Foundation approved only $2.5 million. When the grant agreement was signed on March 2, 2014, Rod-Larsen forwarded it directly to Epstein ⁹. When the Gates Foundation rejected a second IPI proposal on pandemic preparedness in March 2015, Rod-Larsen again forwarded the rejection letter to Epstein ¹⁰. This chain confirms Epstein was treated as the principal intermediary for IPI's largest institutional funding relationship.

Epstein viewed IPI not as a philanthropic beneficiary but as a component of his financial architecture. In an April 14, 2015 estate planning email, he listed IPI alongside "estate modification," "new trusts," and Harvard donations ¹¹. IPI staff were directed by Rod-Larsen to provide Epstein the same program activity reports "which we usually forward to donor countries like Sweden or Norway" ¹², granting a registered sex offender the same institutional access as sovereign states.

Financial Flows and Conduits

The KPMG forensic review of December 18, 2020, confirmed five discrete donations from Epstein-controlled entities totaling $650,000. Enhanced Education contributed $125,000 on October 11, 2011, designated for the "WK Rick Hooper fellowship." Gratitude America Ltd made four additional payments: $150,000 on May 8, 2017, labeled "Reimbursement of tickets to the Oslo Play"; $125,000 on June 12, 2017; $100,000 on November 1, 2017, labeled "Contribution from Gatitude [sic] America, LTD Oslo Play"; and a final $150,000 on April 5, 2019, just three months before Epstein's arrest. KPMG also identified a $14,158.88 reimbursement from Enhanced Education on March 28, 2014, for a first-class Lufthansa flight from JFK to Almaty for Lawrence Summers, booked through Protravel International and invoiced to IPI at 777 United Nations Plaza.

The "Oslo Play" designations on $250,000 in 2017 payments warrant scrutiny. The Broadway play "Oslo" by J.T. Rogers dramatized Rod-Larsen's role in the 1993 Oslo Accords. Rod-Larsen hosted a private cocktail reception before a May 5, 2017 performance ¹³, and Epstein reportedly "hired out the entire theatre for the U.N." ¹⁴. Yet $250,000 substantially exceeds the face value of theater tickets for a single production run. KPMG noted no donor restrictions on these contributions, meaning IPI could apply the funds to any purpose -- suggesting the "Oslo Play" label may have been a pretext for unrestricted donations.

All Gratitude America checks were drawn on Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, the same institution that maintained Epstein's personal accounts and was later fined $150 million by NYDFS for the Epstein relationship. Beyond direct Epstein-entity funds, Leon Black donated $200,000 to IPI in December 2014, a contribution tracked by Epstein's accountant Richard Kahn alongside Black's other Epstein-directed charitable giving ². Combined with the $2.5 million Gates Foundation grant brokered by Epstein and a second $256,968 Gates grant in June 2019, the total financial flow to IPI attributable to Epstein's intermediation is approximately $5.86 million.

Diplomatic Access Platform

IPI provided Epstein with continuous access to heads of state, foreign ministers, and the broader UN diplomatic community -- a level of access unusual for a private individual with a 2008 sex offense conviction. Documentary evidence from DOJ Volume 11 reveals Ministerial Working Dinners on the Middle East co-hosted at IPI by the UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the Luxembourg Foreign Minister ¹⁵¹⁶. IPI hosted pandemics conferences in Geneva attended by global health leaders ¹⁷¹⁸. Epstein received personal invitations to the Vienna Opera Ball through IPI's Vienna office, with staff member Johanna Borstner forwarding formal invitations ¹⁹. IPI also hosted a dinner for the headmaster of Stowe School at 777 UN Plaza that Epstein attended ²⁰.

In May 2012, IPI publicly launched a "Distinguished Fund" with Epstein named as founding philanthropist, generating press coverage in CNBC, Reuters, and The Street -- four years after his 2008 Florida conviction. By February 2013, IPI was being featured on Epstein's personal international website, with an associate noting "putting in info about the Intl Peace Institute etc. Are there other intl. organizations that you have worked with?" ²¹. IPI thus served a dual function: it provided Epstein with a credible institutional affiliation that helped rehabilitate his public profile while simultaneously giving him operational access to diplomatic networks not ordinarily available to private individuals, particularly those with a criminal conviction.

Staffing Control and Personal Exploitation

DOJ Volume 11 records reveal that Epstein exercised operational control over at least one IPI employee's career. In June 2016, a woman sent her resume to Epstein asking him to forward it to "Terry and Adam Lupel, who is the current Vice-President in IPI" ²². By August 2016, she was drafting emails to IPI staff for Epstein's review before sending them ²³. She was hired as an intern at $10-$15 per hour, then promoted to a full-time position at $45,000 per year. When visa issues arose, she consulted Epstein ²⁴, and when negotiating salary, she sent Epstein her offer letter for review ²⁵. In February 2019, IPI Vice President Adam Lupel sent Rod-Larsen a detailed employee costs memo about her, recommending part-time employment at $50,000 per year. Rod-Larsen immediately forwarded the memo to Epstein ²⁶.

In March 2018, Epstein emailed someone described as "president UN," introducing the same woman: "is a woman that works for Terje at iPI. She is educated (the new school) and works on water issues. Is there a way to get her involved in the water project. I will subsidize if needed" ²⁷. The response was "Absolutely! Let her contact me, I will arrange." When Lupel's staffing memo was forwarded through the email chain, Epstein inserted a sexually explicit comment -- "I wonder if it ok if I have sex with her, she is s000 sexy" -- before forwarding it onward ²⁸. The woman recognized the edit was Epstein's: "Adam would never say that" ²⁹. This pattern -- subsidizing employment, controlling career decisions, and sexualizing official personnel documents -- demonstrates that Epstein treated IPI's staffing apparatus as an extension of his personal operations.

Separately, Epstein's files contain O-1 visa templates and multiple completed recommendation letters designed to secure U.S. work visas for women, with letters from Ariane de Rothschild, David Blaine, and others describing visa applicants using O-1 visa language certifying exceptional professional ability ³⁰³¹. This system of coordinated visa letters corroborates February 2026 Al Jazeera/OCCRP reporting that Rod-Larsen wrote official visa recommendation letters for women connected to Epstein.

Regulatory Gaps and Legal Proceedings

IPI has zero registrations under either the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) or the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA), despite a profile that implicates potential obligations under both statutes. Norway and Sweden were confirmed "donor countries" ¹², and IPI maintained advisory boards with 33 sitting members of Congress, facilitated Congressional delegations (CODELs), and hosted government officials from the UAE, Luxembourg, and other states. IPI might claim exemptions under 22 USC 611(d) as an academic/scientific institution or under its historical UN affiliation, but several factors complicate those claims: its Congressional engagement went beyond academic research; its Norwegian-national president directed IPI activities through Epstein, a non-diplomatic channel; and $5.86 million in Epstein-directed funding created financial dependency on non-transparent sources. Notably, Norway's own development agency (NORAD) registered six FARA entries through consulting firms, demonstrating that Norwegian-funded entities in the U.S. do register. IPI's absence from the FARA database is anomalous.

In December 2022, a qui tam whistleblower lawsuit was filed against IPI under the False Claims Act: United States ex rel. v. International Peace Institute, Inc., Case No. 0:22-cv-03127 (D. Minn.), before Judge Jeffrey M. Bryan. The case nature (376 Qui Tam under 31 USC 3729(a)) indicates an allegation that IPI made false claims to the federal government, possibly related to grant applications or certifications. The filing in Minnesota rather than SDNY suggests the whistleblower relator may be based in that jurisdiction. As of early 2026, the case had not been terminated and likely remains under seal.

IPI also maintains a dual-jurisdiction corporate structure, having incorporated in Austria as a "Verein" ³². Legal documents related to this Austrian incorporation were sent by IPI Vienna to Rod-Larsen, who forwarded them to Epstein in April 2015, further demonstrating Epstein's involvement in IPI's institutional governance decisions.

Financial Collapse and Institutional Fallout

IPI's IRS 990 filings document a dramatic and sustained financial decline that correlates closely with the public exposure of the Epstein relationship. Peak assets of $25.6 million in 2010 declined to $16.37 million by 2014, then fell further: $14.7 million (2015), $12.7 million (2016), $11.7 million (2017), $10.5 million (2018), $10.4 million (2019). Following Epstein's arrest and Rod-Larsen's resignation, assets collapsed to $7.9 million in 2020, recovered briefly to $9.3 million in 2021, then continued declining to $8.4 million (2022) and $6.91 million (2023) -- a 73 percent decline from the 2010 peak.

Revenue tells a parallel story of institutional distress. The $11.87 million peak in 2014 -- the year the Gates Foundation grant was signed -- gave way to steady erosion: $8.47 million in 2016, $8.39 million in 2018. The 2020 collapse to $3.93 million, a 67 percent decline from peak, coincided with both COVID-19 and the KPMG forensic review. A brief recovery to $10.77 million in 2021, likely bolstered by a reported $1.5 million from the Open Society Foundations, proved unsustainable: revenue fell to $6.66 million in 2022 and $5.04 million in 2023. Over the full 2010-2023 period, IPI ran a cumulative deficit of approximately $16.5 million. Expenses exceeded revenue in every year except 2010 and 2021. At the 2023 deficit rate, IPI had approximately 2.5 years of reserves remaining.

The 2011 financial anomaly is separately notable: revenue was only $5.64 million against $13.71 million in expenses, producing an $8.07 million single-year deficit that reduced assets from $25.6 million to $17.5 million. This predated the Epstein exposure period and may represent a major investment loss or accounting adjustment. The actual 2011 990 PDF warrants examination to understand the revenue collapse.

All Connections

23 total

Enhanced Education financial strong

Enhanced Education donated $125,000 to IPI in Oct 2011 (WK Rick Hooper fellowship) and reimbursed IPI $14,158.88 for Lawrence Summers first-class flight in Mar 2014. Total: $139,158.88.

Norwegian Government financial strong

IPI received Norwegian govt funding as confirmed donor country. NORAD registered 6 FARA entries but IPI never registered.

Terje Rod-Larsen financial medium

Kevin Rudd advisory medium

Leon Black financial medium

Gratitude America Ltd financial medium

JPMorgan Chase financial medium

Boris Nikolic financial medium

Gates Foundation financial medium

Gratitude America Ltd financial strong

IPI received $525,000 total from GA: $375K in 2017 and $150K in 2019. Largest cumulative recipient. Combined with $650K from Enhanced Education, IPI received $1.175M+ from Epstein foundations.

Gratitude America Ltd financial strong

Gratitude America granted $375,000 to IPI in 2017 per 990-PF Statement 5

Mark Epstein financial strong