On August 8, 2019 — two days before Jeffrey Epstein died in his Manhattan Detention Center cell — a new legal instrument was signed. It was called **The 1953 Trust**.
It restructured his estate, named new beneficiaries, and embedded a backup executor whose identity drew immediate scrutiny: Boris Nikolic, a Harvard-trained physician, biotech investor, and former chief science advisor to Bill Gates.
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Nikolic's name appears in 6,647 documents in the FBI-seized Epstein archive — a document trail that spans over a decade of correspondence, scientific meeting schedules, and forwarded email chains between Nikolic, Epstein, and some of the most powerful figures in global finance and philanthropy.
The August 8 Signing
Document vol00010-efta01266204-pdf, dated August 8, 2019, contains the revised trust instrument signed under Epstein's hand just 48 hours before his death.
The instrument — renamed from the Jeffrey E. Epstein 2019 Trust to "The 1953 Trust" — named Darren K. Indyke and Richard D. Kahn as primary co-executors and trustees. Nikolic was designated as backup executor, to act in the event Indyke or Kahn could not serve.
Court filings in the Virgin Islands probate proceeding subsequently placed the value of the estate at approximately $577 million. Indyke and Kahn managed the estate's post-death administration, which included 17 named shell companies and properties across New York, New Mexico, Paris, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The earlier version of the same trust — Document vol00009-efta00128921-pdf, executed February 4, 2019 — had named Indyke and Kahn as trustees, but did not include Nikolic's designation. His addition in the August 8 revision is specific and deliberate.
A Decade of Correspondence
Nikolic's appearance in the will was not incidental. The archive shows a sustained relationship running from at least 2010 through 2012, with Epstein using Nikolic as both a science advisor and a conduit into the Gates philanthropic and scientific ecosystem.
Document vol00010-efta01981293-pdf, dated November 23, 2010, shows Epstein forwarding diplomatic correspondence to Nikolic — a thread connected to French government contacts and international scientific meetings.
Document vol00010-efta02009763-pdf, from March 24, 2012, shows Nikolic himself sending a message to Epstein's personal email (jeevacation@gmail.com), with Consuelo Remmert of the French presidential palace copied, and references to Woody Allen and a Seattle event — a snapshot of the social and intellectual circles Nikolic and Epstein shared.
Epstein's scheduling documents — including vol00009-efta00362700-pdf — place Boris Nikolic on Epstein's personal calendar alongside George Church (the Harvard geneticist), David Mitchell, and Frederic Fekkai. The schedule entry reflects a recurring pattern: Epstein maintained active scientific advisory relationships, and Nikolic was central to them.
The Gates Connection
At the time of his involvement with Epstein, Nikolic held the title of Chief Scientific Advisor to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He subsequently became a biomedical venture investor, founding Biomatics Capital Partners.
Bill Gates has acknowledged meeting Epstein, characterizing it as an error in judgment. Emails between Gates and Epstein — including those related to possible philanthropic partnerships — were separately reported in media accounts.
The archive does not show direct Gates-Nikolic-Epstein communications in the same thread. But the proximity — Gates's science advisor embedded in Epstein's personal calendar, scientific meetings, and ultimately his estate planning — adds a layer of institutional connectivity that the archive makes plain.
Why Nikolic Reportedly Declined
Following Epstein's death, Nikolic publicly stated that he had no prior knowledge of being named in the will. In a statement to press outlets, he said he had not agreed to serve as executor and did not intend to accept the role.
The Virgin Islands probate court ultimately confirmed Indyke and Kahn as co-executors. No public record shows Nikolic accepting or exercising the backup executor designation.
Document vol00009-efta00128887-pdf — the original trust instrument from early 2019 — shows the estate planning apparatus was in motion well before the August revision. The 6,647 archive mentions confirm Nikolic's sustained presence in Epstein's operational files across a decade.
What the Archive Shows
The Epstein archive's 1.3 million seized documents do not show Nikolic engaged in any wrongdoing. What they show is consistent and documented access: to Epstein's schedule, his correspondence network, and — on August 8, 2019 — his final legal instruments.
Nikolic was not a peripheral name. He appears in nearly 6,700 documents across the FBI-seized archive, a presence that exceeds many figures more prominently reported in public coverage of the Epstein network.
The 1953 Trust — signed 48 hours before Epstein's death and placing a $577 million estate under the control of two financial managers and one backup executor — remains one of the most scrutinized documents in the probate record.
Boris Nikolic's name is on it.
All individuals mentioned are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
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This analysis references publicly released documents from the Epstein case archive. All individuals mentioned are presumed innocent unless convicted in a court of law. Language such as “documents indicate” reflects what appears in source materials, not conclusions of guilt. Readers are encouraged to review the cited source documents directly.