Who is Boris Nikolic? Epstein-named executor is former Bill Gates adviser
Jeffrey Epstein signed a will two days before his death: report
Criminal defense attorney Randy Zelin on the controversy surrounding Jeffrey Epstein’s will.
One of the men named in Jeffrey Epstein’s will as potentially being responsible for carrying it out says he was unaware he was included.
Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender, signed a will detailing nearly $600 million in assets just two days before he killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell. In the will, he named biotech venture capitalist Boris Nikolic as "successor executor," the person who would take control of the estate if the two named executors are unable or unwilling to.
Nikolic, 49, said in a statement that he was "shocked" that he was included.
A spokesperson for Nikolic confirmed to FOX Business that he "was never consulted on these matters and has no intent to fulfill these duties, whatsoever."
Court records show the two executors, Darren K. Indyke and Richard D. Kahn, each signed an oath confirming their willingness to serve as executor. But no such oath was filed by Nikolic.
Nikolic is a physician who completed postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School, where he also served as an assistant professor. He previously served as chief advisor for science and technology to Bill Gates.
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 21: Bill Gates and Boris Nikolic attend Together To End AIDS: An Evening To Benefit amfAR and GBCHealth at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on July 21, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images)
As co-founder and managing director of health care and life sciences venture investing firm Biomatics Capital, Nikolic sits on the boards of directors for several of its portfolio companies.
A spokesperson for Nikolic told FOX Business that he and Epstein had no business ties. Nikolic has a broad network in the scientific world that overlapped with Epstein’s at points.
Both men were clients of the private bank at JPMorgan Chase & Co., where several people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg Epstein helped bankers attract lucrative new clients.
FILE - This March 28, 2017, file photo, provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry shows Jeffrey Epstein. A judge denied bail for jailed financier Jeffrey Epstein on sex trafficking charges Thursday, July 18, 2019, saying the danger to the
The executors of Epstein’s will receive $250,000. The document tallies cash and investments he said he had just before his death, which were then organized into a trust. The only potential beneficiary named is Epstein’s brother, Mark.