How did Jeffrey Epstein make his money?
No-one knows the actual amounts involved but these are the main sources of his wealth that most are aware of. Blackmail or other highly illegal sources will probably remain secret forever. Alternative versions are in parentheses.
In 1976 he worked at Bear Stearns under the mentorship of Ace Greenberg and then-CEO James Cayne. He rose to the rank of limited partner, one step beneath full partner. He left the company abruptly in 1981 under a cloud of controversy (for purportedly breaking some rules). (Alternatively, he was sacked after a probe by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into one of JE’s wealthy clients found that he had committed illegal securities violations).
After leaving Bear Stearns he set up his own company – a consulting firm called Intercontinental Assets Group Inc. (I’ve also read it was called J Epstein & Co.) recovering lost or stolen money for the government or for very rich people (or from fraudulent brokers and lawyers).
He insists that ever since he left Bear Stearns in 1981 he has managed money only for billionaires who depend on him for discretion. “I was the only person crazy enough, or arrogant enough, or misplaced enough, to make my limit a billion dollars or more,” he tells people freely. According to him, the flat fees he receives from his clients, combined with his skill at playing the currency markets “with very large sums of money,” have afforded him the lifestyle he enjoys today.
1986 (1987 or 1989) He met Steven Hoffenberg, the then CEO at Towers Financial Corp, and was offered a job. SH claimed he was aware that JE had cheated and stolen money on his expense account in his previous employment and that this appealed to him because his company was running a Ponzi scheme, exaggerating the company’s value using false bank statements in a bid to bring investors on board.
The illegal scheme was a huge success and SH and JE made millions from it. The rapid rise of Towers drew the attention of the SEC who investigated the company and discovered it was an illegal operation. SH was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 20 years in prison but, for reasons that remain clouded in mystery, JE was not prosecuted for his involvement in the billion dollar scheme. (One article states JE didn’t face charges as he was only a consultant. Another states that he cut a deal to cooperate with prosecutors)
I saw an interview with SH where he stated that he couldn’t understand why JE hadn’t been charged because “all the evidence was there”. He described JE as a ruthless, social-climbing psychopath with “no moral compass” who was “very manipulative, very controlling. He had no boundaries.” “He was a brilliant, seductive, criminal mastermind.” He said the scam wasn't enough for JE who also stole cash from Towers by “transferring the legal monies directly to his own account.”
In the late 1980s he had an alliance with Les Wexner, founder of L Brands which includes Victoria’s Secret. The two quickly became close friends. LW gave JE a power of attorney over his financial affairs but later accused him of misappropriating in excess of $46M of his funds. Director Lisa Bryant said, “As we learned, he stole money right out from under him – a man who is rich and powerful in his own right. But Epstein managed to steal him blind”. According to The Times, “what is clear is that during the period in which he worked closely with Mr Wexner, Mr. Epstein became extraordinarily rich.
Strangely, very, very strangely, LW reportedly never took legal action against him.
An interesting side note:
Wexner used a trust to buy the Manhattan mansion for
$US13.2 million in 1989. The trust transferred ownership of the townhouse to an Epstein-owned company in 2011 for
$US10 according to the deed filed with the Office of the City Register. Epstein signed the document for both sides. Prosecutors are in the process of seizing the house, which they allege is the scene of some of the crimes Epstein is accused of, according to Bloomberg.
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