EFTA02520929.pdf
dataset_11 pdf 421.9 KB • Feb 3, 2026 • 4 pages
From: Steven Sinofsky
Sent: Wednesday, AprligilliM
To: Jeffrey Epstein
Subject: Re:
of course this is all good. there's no blame to go around.
couple of thoughts:
• not sure what me "removing myself" does but up to you
• my view is that they offered a "random $5m" and I came back with make me whole for leaving and not asking to
rest and vest ("the andy lees treatment" as lisa Brummel/HR calls it). Brad will say this is a cost to me of being removed
because was toxic. So is andy. But $10 seems like a random number halfway between a logical number and another
random number ($5).
* I would prefer not to name Samsung as instead say "Aside from this list of companies, Steven and other former
Microsoft employees can join any organization without litigation". I want to push on other people and not have them
name Samsung or any other company (box.net for example) a no fly zone *because* of me.
• I don't want to be reciprocal in unenforceable things like non-disparagement. I want all of that to be one sided.
the goal is to make this as petty as possible.
• I have been beyond reproach. It is my style. I just don't do stuff like that about competitors or just people I
don't like.
Ovitz says hi. We had lunch.
Sent from Surface RT
Check out http://blog.learningbyshipping.com
From: Jeffrey Epstein
Sent: Wednesday, April 3, 2013 1:17 PM
To: Steven Sinofsky
Brad is really at 10. being gracious and above reproach in this negotiation will go a long way to stopping steve from
trashing you. you are right about the pr and i am very sensitve to it. I will handle it moving foward with jay, you can
always blame jay, we will tell brad that you have removed yourself. I will charge you a one million dollar fee ( i will
not get insulted if you choose not to ). Right at the end, not for jay, I will attempt to specifillay get samsung approved.
letting steve feel good that he fucked you already , will minimize the moving forward , so i do not want to give up the
higher amount demadn until the very last minute
On Wed, Apr 3, 2013 at 9:59 AM, Steven Sinofsk <mailto > wrote:
My gosh, I am s000 sorry that I was not explicit in showing my appreciation. I am deeply appreciative from the
moment of referral to you checking in on things to the side dialogs you've had. I'm terribly sorry I did not express that in
a way that made it clear.
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Thank you.
I'm more than happy to turn this over to you. Any fee you want is fine. That isn't an issue for me at all. Or if you
don't want to be involved that is fine too. I would rather be friends more than anything.
I'd like you to be involved. I just want you to understand a little more about the situation. It is more nuanced
than a money negotiation i think.
We've both done lots of contracts and have both been more involved with lawyers tons more than we would
have liked. But in very different ways and with different business situations. Together we bring almost too much
experience. :)
For me, the currency in this negotiation isn't money. Steve doesn't care about the money because he knows I
am not motivated by the money. The most important thing for Steve is foreclosing options for me. That is why he did
the negative stuff about me. The second most important thing is just feeling like he won. That means he gets to brag
about something. Me being a vc is a victory for him. Me being a startup CEO is a victory. Samsung is a clean loss.
I have been part of a dozen lawsuits filed after Microsoft people went to competitors. It is nasty, public, and
ultimately Microsoft prevailed in all of them. Either the person backed down or ended up so tarnished they were
ineffective. The suits are filed regardless of the work--"inevitable leakage of trade secrets".
PR is part of foreclosing options. People do remember pr. Read about "Kai Fu Lee". He was branded ineffective
and then left google as ineffective. He was a traitor then and is now a traitor to China. Maybe he is all of those in
reality, but he was also a leading Carnegie Melon computer scientist.
This goes back to the 80's and is always done. Senior people leave and there is a lawsuit if they go to a
competitor. Always.
If I choose to be a manager of people, especially a large group, then that group will know about me almost
exclusively through what they read about me. I don't get a chance to charm them. And because of the lag time from
start to releasing a new product it means i have to change an organization and manage it with a cloud of doubt or worse.
Getting the most out of a team becomes impossible. That's the failure cycle. It is real.
Managing a large team when they get all of their information about their manager from the web or launching a
product when the press thinks they know you is all impossibly hard with bad "personal pr".
The "sightings" are real. Just like the conference I signed up for this is what impacts negotiation. I do believe in
sharing that with counsel which might be different between us. Both ways can work (or not).
But the truth is people went straight to Steve and Steve went straight to brad. Just like how steve fired off panic
mail after i signed up to speak at the conference.
It was a "material" event. Samsung is, in Steve's words, "our new biggest competitor". Microsoft depends on
hardware and only two companies that make hardware are executing--apple and Samsung. Lenovo steals windows and
all the others from hp to dell to asus are betting on android big.
I don't think I have been flip flopping or erratic. I have been frustrated at jays lack of engagement after the New
York meeting. I think this is just like your frustration with his worries. I have no worries not closing but dragging it out
isn't good for anyone since everything that happens in public changes the negotiation. Even Windows Blue(next release)
gives Steve more confidence he doesn't need to signs this.
His second concern is me stealing people. That's why he wants a gag order.
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The only tool they have is money or suing me. Suing me is hard but hardly impossible. The only variable is that
suing me means a deposition for Steve. But if they don't sue me then they have to sue everyone who leaves with me.
That they don't prefer.
I think:
• $15m to me is fair and reasonable since it was comp i earned modulo the proxy bullshit which drops 125,000
or so shares. For negotiation more than happy to say "plus 5m cash". I don't care about the timeline. Id set up an
automatic escrow account so I don't have to go back to them.
• Not working at apple, google until 2014 is fine
• Cooperating and not poaching is fine
• The timeline doesn't matter so long as jay is driving and not letting brad stall. That's new since jay is dragging
now.
I can say yes to Samsung with an agreement. If we don't have an agreement I will get sued going to Samsung.
They know it and i know it. If not then tell me why not?
I think they should agree not to sue other microsoft people who leave to the same company as me. That's new.
That's added because of the way they structured the gag order. If I can't talk to them about stuff then i can't be
recruiting them. If i go to Samsung they can't now declare that a competitor because of me. People can quit and join
other companies.
On Apr 3, 2013, at 4:34 AM, "Jeffrey Epstein" <jeevacation@gmail.com <mailto:jeevacation@gmail.com»
wrote:
no secret I texted melz. I woudl like you to succeed , which means only to get what you want, that is for you
to decide. I think it is a sensitce negotiation, therefore even more important to decide on your persaonl prioirites. get
it closed, is ok, but if that message comes out in the wrong way , it wil do you more harm than good . One moment you
say it has to get closed and the next you say im not impatient. If I can help I will , It appears as if you think i am beating
up on you , no thanks . thank you , or the merest sign of appreciation, I will play any role you choose, except for the
villain. I will take total control and leave you out if thats what you prefer. you are too close, and worried about press,
lawsuits, gossip, percieved slights. I actully know how difficult this is for you, and if i were a girl woudl give you a hug,.
This is not life and death, things will be ok ,
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The information contained in this communication is confidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may constitute
inside information, and is intended only for the use of the addressee. It is the property of Jeffrey Epstein Unauthorized
use, disdosure or copying of this communication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you
have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by return e-mail or by e-mail to
jeevacation@gmail.com <mailto:jeevacation@gmail.com> , and destroy this communication and all copies thereof,
including all attachments. copyright -all rights reserved
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