The US Department of Justice on Friday began a long-anticipated release of a new wave of Jeffrey Epstein files from its archives, which include records from its investigations into the politically explosive case of the convicted sex offender.
While much of the material remained heavily redacted, the trove guides us to numerous photographs of former Democratic president Bill Clinton and other luminaries, including Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson, proving them to be in Epstein's social circle.
However, the newly released Jeffrey Epstein files have almost no material relating to his other old friend, Donald Trump.
What remains constant is the sheer amount of wealth Jeffrey Epstein boasted of, having owned a private island names Little Saint James in the United States Virgin Islands, more commonly referred to as Epstein islands.
Federal prosecutors in New York brought new sex trafficking charges related to abuse of minor girls against Epstein in 2019, but he killed himself in jail after his arrest.
But what was Jeffrey Epstein's wealth at the time of his death and how did he get so rich? Livemint takes a look.
Jeffrey Epstein net worth has been estimated at $578 million at the time of his death, according to his estate cited by Forbes. This also includes $380 million in cash and investments, apart from other assets.
Epstein, who was 66 when he died, was born to Jewish immigrant grandparents and raised in Brooklyn. He excelled in math and graduated from school earlier than peers, briefly attending Cooper Union and New York University as per media reports published over the years as well as court filings. He began his professional career as a teacher of mathematics and physics for teens at the Dalton School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
The full origins of Jeffrey Epstein's wealth remains a mystery still. He used to describe himself as “an experienced and successful financier and businessman”, an “entrepreneur who has built several highly profitable companies” and “one of the pioneers of derivative and option-based investing.”
Earlier this month, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released financial records related to Epstein from JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, who were his clients.
According to a report by Forbes, which reviewed court filings, an investigative memo and financial records, Epstein accumulated most of his wealth by relying on two billionaires and a “tax gimmick”.
Former Victoria's Secret CEO Les Wexner and private equity mogul Leon Black were the top two biggest clients of Jeffrey Epstein. As per the report, his two companies collected over $800 million in revenue between 1999 and 2018 with $490 million of it being in fees. As per Forbes estimates, these two clients supplied over 75% of the said fees to Epstein.
One of the biggest reasons Jeffrey Epstein was able to accumulate so much wealth is because he saved nearly $300 million in tax breaks between 1999 and 2018 from the government in the US Virgin Islands, where he bought two private islands and set up two of his only revenue-generating companies — Financial Trust Company and Southern Trust Company.
Throughout these years, Epstein earned $360 million in dividends from the two companies.
However, Wexner and Black were not his only high profile clients. Johnson & Johnson heiress Elizabeth Johnson, billionaire Glenn Dubin’s hedge fund Highbridge Capital Management, a former US Treasury Secretary, heads of states, Nobel laureates and prominent philanthropists, according to Forbes citing Black and court filings.
Apart from these, Jeffrey Epstein owned mansions, a ranch and an apartment in Upper East Side of Manhattan, Palm Beach, Florida, New Mexico and Paris respectively, all valued in millions.
