Born in 1953 in Brooklyn, New York, to Jewish parents, Jeffrey Epstein would later become one of the most infamous figures of the modern era: a convicted sex offender accused of orchestrating a vast, international sex-trafficking operation involving underage girls, while maintaining close relationships with politicians, financiers, academics, royalty, and cultural elites.
With the US Department of Justice recently releasing more than 3 million pages of documents related to the Epstein case, often referred to in public discourse as the “Epstein files”, it has become increasingly important to understand not only the scope of his crimes, but who Epstein was, how he accumulated extraordinary wealth and influence, and how institutions repeatedly enabled him.
What follows is a reconstruction of Epstein’s life and rise, based primarily on a years-long investigative series by The New York Times, drawing on court records, financial documents, interviews with former associates, and previously unreleased archival material.
Early Life and Education
Jeffrey Epstein was the first of two children born to Paula Epstein, a homemaker, and Seymour Epstein, a groundskeeper for New York City’s Parks Department. The family lived a modest, working-class life in Brooklyn.
Epstein attended Lafayette High School in Gravesend, where he showed notable aptitude in mathematics. He skipped two grades and graduated in 1969 at 16 years old. That same year, he enrolled at Cooper Union, later transferring to the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University. Although he studied at NYU for several years, he never completed a degree.
First job: Teaching at Dalton School (1974–1976)
Despite lacking formal credentials, Epstein secured a teaching position in 1974 at the elite Dalton School on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The school catered to children of New York’s wealthiest families.
According to The New York Times, Epstein immediately stood out, not for pedagogical excellence, but for behavior that unsettled students and colleagues. Former students later recalled his fixation on teenage girls, his disregard for professional boundaries, and his habit of attending student parties where alcohol was present. Though no criminal charges were ever brought related to his time at Dalton, several students said his conduct left a lasting impression.
Epstein was ultimately dismissed after administrators deemed his teaching inadequate. However, Dalton would prove to be the launchpad for his entry into high finance.
Entry Into Wall Street: Bear Stearns (1976–1981)
During a parent-teacher conference, Epstein impressed the father of a student, who referred him to Alan “Ace” Greenberg, CEO of Bear Stearns. Greenberg, known for hiring “unconventional” talent, offered Epstein a position despite his lack of experience or degrees.
At Bear Stearns, Epstein rose with unusual speed. He cultivated relationships with senior executives, dated Greenberg’s daughter for a time, and quickly gained access to wealthy clients. Internal concerns emerged early: Epstein had lied about his academic credentials, abused expense accounts, and violated firm rules. Yet he repeatedly avoided serious consequences.
By 1980, Bear Stearns named Epstein a limited partner, and he was earning the equivalent of over $800,000 a year in today’s dollars. That same year, Cosmopolitan featured him as “Bachelor of the Month.”
In 1981, following an internal investigation involving improper trading privileges and personal loans, Epstein resigned rather than accept suspension. His exit was quiet, but the connections he forged there became foundational to everything that followed.
How Epstein Got Rich: A Pattern, Not a Genius
Contrary to the myth of Epstein as a financial prodigy, The New York Times found no evidence that he built his fortune through exceptional investment skill. Instead, his wealth emerged through a recurring pattern with core methods identified by investigators as:
- Exploiting elite trust by exaggerating or fabricating credentials
- Leveraging personal and sexual relationships to gain access and protection
- Abusing expense accounts and inside information
- Orchestrating borderline-legal or outright fraudulent schemes
- Avoiding accountability through institutional tolerance
Epstein moved steadily from small deceptions to large-scale financial misconduct, often burning benefactors once they were no longer useful.
Early Schemes and Financial Misconduct (1981–1986)
After leaving Bear Stearns, Epstein partnered with former Justice Department official John Stanley Pottinger, pitching tax-avoidance strategies to wealthy clients. Around this time, he began falsely presenting himself as a “bounty hunter” who tracked hidden assets.
In 1982, Epstein persuaded businessman Michael Stroll to invest $450,000, roughly 10% of his net worth, in a supposed oil deal. The money disappeared. Epstein ultimately prevailed in civil court on technical grounds, keeping the funds. Investigators later described this as a turning point: Epstein had graduated from manipulation to outright financial predation.
Ponzi Exposure and Market Manipulation (Late 1980s)
Epstein became deeply involved with Steven Hoffenberg, whose company, Towers Financial, later collapsed as a $500 million Ponzi scheme. Hoffenberg accused Epstein of helping orchestrate the fraud, an allegation Epstein denied.
Around the same time, Epstein participated in stock-price manipulation, most notably involving the chemical company Pennwalt. He recruited investors, inflated share prices by announcing takeover bids, then sold at a profit, while allegedly refusing to return investors’ money. By 1988, Swiss banking documents showed Epstein was worth approximately $15 million.
The Wexner Era: From Millionaire to Power Broker (Late 1980s–1990s)
Epstein’s decisive leap into extreme wealth came through Leslie Wexner, billionaire founder of The Limited and Victoria’s Secret.
After being introduced by a mutual acquaintance, Epstein convinced Wexner to grant him power of attorney over vast financial and charitable assets, an extraordinary arrangement. According to later statements by Wexner, Epstein misappropriated tens of millions of dollars over time.
With Wexner’s money and credibility, Epstein acquired:
- A Palm Beach mansion near Mar-a-Lago
- A Manhattan townhouse
- An Ohio estate
- Private jets
- Later, Little St. James, his private island in the US Virgin Islands
Wexner’s name opened doors to banks, politicians, universities, and global elites. For decades, Epstein cited Wexner as proof of legitimacy.
Social Capital and Institutional Legitimacy
Through strategic donations and board memberships, Epstein embedded himself within these elite institutions:
- Rockefeller University
- The Trilateral Commission
- The New York Academy of Art
- Harvard University
These affiliations were often used to recruit victims, attract clients, and silence scepticism. According to The New York Times, many institutions failed to scrutinise the source of his wealth or behaviour.
The Maxwells and the Criminal Enterprise
In the early 1990s, Epstein met Ghislaine Maxwell, the daughter of British media tycoon Robert Maxwell. After her father’s death, Epstein supported her financially and socially. The two became inseparable.
It was during this period that Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation expanded dramatically. Maxwell was later convicted for her central role in recruiting and grooming underage girls and is serving a 20-year federal sentence.
But to understand this network more clearly, it is necessary to examine who Robert Maxwell actually was and the nature of his relationship with “Israel.”
Robert Maxwell was not merely a media baron; he was one of the most opaque and controversial power brokers in British public life. Born Ján Ludvík Hoch to a Jewish family in what was then Czechoslovakia, Maxwell survived the Holocaust while most of his family did not.
After fleeing to Britain, he remade himself entirely, changing his name, embedding himself in elite circles, and leveraging his wartime service in the British Army into social and political capital.
From these foundations, he constructed a sprawling media empire that included influential outlets such as the Daily Mirror and the New York Daily News. Behind the image of dominance and authority, however, his businesses were riddled with debt, mismanagement, and deception.
Maxwell cultivated a reputation as an untouchable figure, aggressive, authoritarian, and obsessively controlling. His political ambitions were explicit, and his proximity to power was carefully engineered. Yet when his empire began to unravel, it became clear that much of it was propped up by fraud.
Following his death in 1991, after he fell from his yacht near the Canary Islands, investigators uncovered that Maxwell had siphoned hundreds of millions of pounds from employee pension funds to keep his collapsing companies afloat.
Although official findings ruled his death an accident, the circumstances surrounding it have remained a source of enduring doubt, with persistent questions about whether it was suicide or something more.
Central to Maxwell’s influence were his extensive and deliberate ties to “Israel.” He was an outspoken supporter of the Israeli occupation and poured significant resources into Israeli industries, particularly publishing, pharmaceuticals, and emerging technologies.
He moved comfortably among “Israel’s” political elite and was widely treated as a reliable external asset who advanced its interests abroad. These relationships were made unmistakably clear after his death, when he was granted an extraordinary funeral in occupied al-Quds. Senior Israeli officials attended, and he was buried on Jabal al-Zaytoun, an “honour” almost never extended to non-Israelis, underscoring the depth of his importance to the Israeli occupation.
It was these facts, not rumour alone, that intensified long-standing claims of Maxwell’s links to Israeli intelligence. While Maxwell publicly rejected allegations of working with Mossad, and no conclusive documentation has been released to definitively prove such a role, the convergence of his political access, financial entanglements, strategic value, and the exceptional treatment he received in death ensured that such suspicions never disappeared. His legacy remains inseparable from these unanswered questions.
Now Epstein becomes rich….
By the late 1990s, Epstein was worth over $100 million, controlled vast properties, and enjoyed protection from banks, politicians, and legal institutions. His criminal behaviour accelerated in parallel with his wealth.
The story of Jeffrey Epstein is not merely the story of one man, but of systemic failure, institutional complicity, and the dangerous convergence of money, influence, and impunity.
This context is essential for understanding the significance of the newly released Epstein files, and what they may yet reveal.
The newly released Epstein files
In examining these files, this article does not attempt to catalogue every revelation. Instead, it concentrates on several of the most significant disclosures, chief among them Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to “Israel.” Much like Robert Maxwell, Epstein has long been the subject of allegations linking him to the Mossad, and the newly released documents further underscore just how closely connected he was to “Israel.”
Who has been named in the Epstein Files so far?
It is important to note that many of the individuals listed below were mentioned in Epstein-related material long before the most recent document releases, and that the appearance of a name in the files does not imply criminal conduct or awareness of Epstein’s crimes, unless supported by evidence.
The files consist of emails, calendars, contact lists, interview notes, and other records that document Epstein’s social, political, and business networks.
Donald Trump, US President
US President Donald Trump is mentioned more than 1,000 times in the 3.5 million Jeffrey Epstein documents released in early February.
Some of these references only mention Trump’s name without any specific connection to crimes that were or could have been committed; however, other documents indicate sexual assault claims against the US President, with details from Epstein’s victims describing what happened.
One of the most significant disclosures is an FBI-compiled list from last year that includes over a dozen allegations involving Trump, many of which stem from unverified tips sent to the FBI’s National Threat Operations Centre.
One FBI memo details a woman who accused Trump in a lawsuit of raping her at the age of 13. Another memo, partially redacted, includes an interview with Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most outspoken survivors, who described working as a teenager at Mar-a-Lago, which is owned by Trump, and being recruited to work for Epstein, detailing the sexual abuse she said she experienced. Giuffre died by suicide in April 2025.
The documents also show that Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, once “presented” a victim to Trump at a New York party and indicated to him that the victim was “available,” telling her, “Oh, I think he likes you. Aren’t you lucky. This is great.” The woman told federal investigators that “nothing happened” between her and Trump.
Additionally, federal prosecutors collected evidence that Trump flew on Epstein’s private plane multiple times in the 1990s, contradicting his 2024 statement, “I was never on Epstein’s Plane.”
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, or Prince Andrew
According to Sky News‘s data and forensics team, the name Andrew appeared at least 3,160 times in the Epstein files. It is noteworthy that this includes all mentions of the name Andrew and not specifically Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
However, their team also discovered that the name “Prince Andrew” appeared 1,877 times, “The Duke” appeared 1,182 times, and “The Invisible Man” was featured 101 times.
An August 2010 email exchange between Epstein and Mountbatten-Windsor, two years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting sex with a minor, shows Epstein inviting him to meet a “friend” for dinner in London. In response, former Prince Andrew said he would be “delighted to see her” and asked Epstein to provide her contact details.
That “friend” was described by Epstein as a 26-year-old Russian who was “clever, beautiful, trustworthy,” and he confirmed that she had Prince Andrew’s email.
More than a month later, Epstein invited him to dinner again, with Andrew suggesting Buckingham Palace as the location, citing that it would offer “lots of privacy.” Epstein replied that they would “need/have private time.”
Some of the most striking documents released were photographs that appear to show Prince Andrew on all fours, leaning over a girl lying on the floor.
Tom Barrack, US envoy
Tom Barrack, US Ambassador to Turkey, Special Envoy to Syria, and a key fundraiser for Donald Trump, appears extensively in the Epstein documents. Emails reveal a close relationship with Epstein, including discussions that show Barrack as a central figure in connecting Epstein to elite political circles.
In March 2016, Epstein emailed Barrack, the same person who called Lebanese journalists “animalistic” in 2025, requesting, “Send photos of you and child… Make me smile,” shortly after Epstein mentioned that he was receiving “many calls” about his friendship with Trump but was choosing not to respond. This followed an earlier suggestion from Barrack that he and Epstein should “catch up.”
Epstein’s archived calendars indicate that he actively scheduled meetings with Barrack for August 2016, as part of a broader attempt to re-establish his influence within political circles, including connections close to then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. The documents show that Barrack was among the key figures Epstein sought to involve in his post-conviction political and social network.
Following Epstein’s death, Barrack faced federal charges alleging he acted as a foreign agent for the United Arab Emirates, but he was ultimately acquitted. Despite the revelations from the emails, Barrack continues his diplomatic and business work. The correspondence provides insight into the nature of his interactions with Epstein before and after Epstein’s 2008 sex offender conviction and his 2019 arrest, illustrating Barrack’s ongoing engagement with influential political figures through Epstein.
One email from 2016 is as “Alert 12:30 pm LUNCH w/Ehud Barak, Tom Barrack and Vitaly Chrukin.”
Steve Bannon, Executive and former White House Chief Strategist
The populist strategist and one of Donald Trump’s closest advisers during his first term, Steve Bannon, appeared to have a notably close relationship with Epstein, according to newly released text messages in the files.
What stands out is that, despite his role at the centre of Trump’s inner circle, Bannon frequently discussed Trump with Epstein, often in exchanges where Epstein mocked Trump and commented on Bannon’s influence over him.
Ironically, amid Trump’s current term spree of tariff announcements, the messages show that back in 2018, Bannon texted Epstein: “Dude: I just got him to pull the trigger on $400 billion in tariffs on China.”
Even more striking is Epstein’s response: “Soon we will be talking real money 😊,” followed by “Great work.” Bannon replied: “It’s war… Xi could fall.”
In another message, Bannon sarcastically referred to Trump as a “‘Stable Genius’ bringing himself down.”
Nearly two hours of video show Bannon asking Epstein about his sex offender classification; Epstein referred to himself as “Tier one,” the lowest category.
Thorbjørn Jagland, Head of Nobel Peace Prize Committee
A lot of emails had been exchanged between Thorbjørn Jagland, head of the Nobel Peace Prize committee and former Norwegian Prime Minister, and Epstein, even showing that Jagland stayed at Epstein’s New York home.
Mette-Marit, Norway’s Crown Princess
Similarly, Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit exchanged several emails with Epstein over the years.
Larry Summers, Former Harvard President
Former Harvard president Larry Summers, who also served as US Treasury secretary under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, was long known to associate with Epstein. Previous reports also indicated that he was named as an executor in an earlier version of Epstein’s will.
Newly released emails from 2017 now show Summers and Epstein exchanging messages that included gossip about Trump during his first presidential term.
Leon Black, Co-founder and former CEO of Apollo Global Management
Newly released files include diary material containing first-person allegations against Leon Black, the co-founder and former CEO of Apollo Global Management.
The entries claim that Black abused a 16-year-old girl at Epstein’s Manhattan residence in 2002. According to court filings, the girl, who had autism and a rare form of Down syndrome, was assessed at the time as having a developmental age of approximately 12 years.
One page of the apparent journal includes a pasted copy of Sylvia Plath’s 1962 poem “Stopped Dead,” with the name “Leon Black” handwritten beside the title.
Several entries appear to be written in a coded form.
A separate document marked “Confidential for Attorney’s Eyes Only” appears to translate and transcribe portions of this coded material, including entries that contain serious allegations of physical abuse.
Led by CEO Marc Rowan, Apollo Global Management ranks among the world’s largest alternative investment firms, with assets under management estimated at $785 billion in 2025, according to Forbes.
In 2023, Apollo announced a partnership with The Phoenix Holdings, one of “Israel’s” leading insurance groups, aimed at accessing investment opportunities in “Israel” and internationally, with a target of managing more than $100 billion in assets.
The firm is a major US-based alternative asset manager with substantial and active investment ties to Israel”.
Marc Rowan is set to join the executive boards of both the “Board of Peace” and the National Committee for Gaza’s Administration.
Newly released Epstein files show that Marc Rowan maintained contact with Epstein during the mid-2010s after Epstein had pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a minor.
The documents reveal repeated correspondence between Rowan and Epstein regarding the value of Apollo’s “tax receivable agreement” (TRA).
In March 2016, Rowan sent Epstein a detailed internal TRA calculation. Epstein replied that he was unable to download an attached image, to which Rowan responded, “I am getting the calculation detail.”
Bill Gates, Microsoft Co-Founder
American businessman, philanthropist, and Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates’s relationship with Epstein, previously documented, resurfaced in controversy after a draft 2013 email found in Epstein’s account revealed feelings of betrayal from Gates.
Alongside discussions of business deals, the email expressed concern about a sexually transmitted disease and other personal matters, even indicating that Epstein provided him with antibiotics that Gates could “surreptitiously give to Melinda,” Gates’s ex-wife.
Elon Musk, SpaceX and Tesla CEO
Businessman and former senior adviser to Trump, Elon Musk, has previously claimed that he refused to visit Epstein’s private island.
However, newly released documents suggest that Musk, who is CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, owner of X, and co-founder of Neuralink, actively attempted to arrange a visit, contradicting his earlier statements.
Howard Lutnick, Former CEO and Chairman of Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P.
In December 2012, Howard Lutnick, who is currently Trump’s Secretary of Commerce, coordinated with Epstein to obtain coordinates for his boat captain to link up with Epstein’s island for dinner.
He later invited Epstein to a political fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in 2015.
Sergey Brin, Google co-founder
Google co-founder Sergey Brin exchanged several messages with Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003, in which he suggested bringing Google’s then-CEO, Eric Schmidt, to a dinner at Epstein’s New York residence.
In separate court testimony, Sarah Ransome, who has alleged abuse by Epstein, said that she encountered Brin and his then-fiancée, Anne Wojcicki, on Epstein’s private island.
Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin Group
Although Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, was already known to have been acquainted with Epstein prior to the latest document release, the newly released materials reveal additional details.
A 2013 email shows Branson telling Epstein that he would be happy to meet as long as Epstein would “bring your harem.”
Branson also advised Epstein to use Bill Gates as a reference after Epstein was required to register as a sex offender.
Martha Stewart, Retail Businesswoman
A 2013 email shows that Epstein’s assistant, Lesley Groff, asked him whether she could share his phone number with Martha Stewart’s assistant at the time.
Groff later emailed Stewart’s contact to arrange a dinner with Epstein, Woody Allen, and Soon-Yi Previn, including Epstein’s New York address.
Steve Tisch, Co-owner of the New York Giants
Steve Tisch, co-owner of the New York Giants, corresponded with Epstein regarding a woman he met at Epstein’s house, inquiring whether she was a “working girl.”
Epstein described the woman as “Tahitian, speaks mostly French, exotic” and assured Tisch she was not a “working girl.”
Josh Harris, Co-owner of the NFL’s Washington Commanders
Billionaire Josh Harris, co-owner of the NFL’s Washington Commanders, the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, appears repeatedly in the Epstein files.
Earlier disclosures showed that Epstein had invited Harris to an “intimate” breakfast in 2014, which was also expected to include Bill Gates. The latest documents confirm that Harris did attend, with an email to Epstein reading, “Yes, very much. Thank you for inviting me.”
Casey Wasserman, President of the LA 2028 Olympic Committee
Emails show Wasserman, president of the LA 2028 Olympic Committee, exchanged flirtatious messages with Maxwell.
Woody Allen, Filmmaker and Actor
Woody Allen was included in multiple Epstein-related dinners, coordinated via emails that also involved Deepak Chopra.
Deepak Chopra, Author
Indian-American author, new age guru, and alternative medicine advocate, Deepak Chopra, frequently corresponded with Epstein, exchanging news articles and arranging meetings.
Peter Attia, Influencer
Anti-aging influencer Peter Attia exchanged hundreds of emails with Epstein, including discussions of a 2018 Miami Herald story identifying Epstein’s victims.
Attia also joked about sexual acts and anatomy while acknowledging that being publicly associated with Epstein was sensitive.
Katie Couric, Journalist and TV host
Katie Couric, journalist and TV host, emailed Epstein about attending dinner in 2010, thanking him for a “tasty lasagna” and referring to the eclectic guest list, which included “Brooks” and other friends.
She declined another invitation for tea in 2011, prompting Epstein and an associate named Andrew to express disappointment. Couric recounted these dinners in her 2021 memoir.
Bret Ratner, Film Director
The director of Melania Trump’s film, Bret Ratner, appears in photos with Epstein embracing young women.
Deeper into Epstein and “Israel”
One of the most prominent figures in the newly released Epstein files is former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
The documents show Barak maintained contact with Epstein for years, continuing well after Epstein’s 2008 conviction in Florida for sex crimes.
Correspondence details visits, meetings, and phone calls, including plans for a 2017 stay at Epstein’s New York residence. Barak has acknowledged travelling on Epstein’s private plane and visiting his properties, while insisting he never witnessed inappropriate behaviour or parties.
The files also reveal Barak seeking Epstein’s assistance in media matters. In one email, he noted that Israeli Channel 2 had secured an exclusive interview with Hillary Clinton and asked Epstein to approach Donald Trump for a similar interview with rival Channel 10, which he said would reach “a huge percentage of Israelis and most US citizens in Israel.” He added that Channel 10 would send their leading anchor, describing her as “a gifted positive (blond) lady.”
A newly released audio recording captures a private conversation between Barak and Epstein on large-scale immigration to “Israel.”
Barak discusses “Israel’s” ability to absorb additional Russian-speaking immigrants, referencing the post-Soviet wave of the 1990s that brought roughly one million new arrivals.
He outlines how this earlier migration reshaped the labour market, military composition, and political landscape, and emphasises the potential for controlled immigration to drive broader demographic, economic, and cultural change.
Barak highlights hybrid Russian-Israeli names in military units as an example of integration. Epstein expresses scepticism about the scope and purpose of these policies, while Barak stresses the potential for “dramatic” transformation.
Other documents show that an undercover FBI informant (CHS) believed Epstein was an Israeli spy. According to the informant, Epstein’s attorney, Alan Dershowitz, told then-US Attorney Alex Ocasio that Epstein worked with both US and allied intelligence.
“CHS shared phone calls between Dershowitz and Epstein during which he/she took notes. After these calls, Mossad would then call Dershowitz to debrief. Epstein was close to the former Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Barak (Barak) and trained as a spy under him,” the document reads.
The source further told the FBI that Dershowitz told them that “if he were young again, he would be holding a stun gun as an Israeli Intelligence (Mossad) agent.”
The files also reveal Epstein advising Barak on business ventures. In a 2013 audio recording, Epstein discussed the AI surveillance company Palantir, co-founded by Peter Thiel, and suggested Barak could join its board. In 2015, Barak and Epstein co-founded the security technology startup Reporty Homeland Security (now Carbyne), with Barak as chairman.
It is noteworthy that in 2025, The Philosopher in the Valley: Alex Karp, Palantir, and the Rise of the Surveillance State, a biography of Palantir CEO Alex Karp by New York Times journalist Michael Steinberger, revealed that the US-based AI surveillance company played a direct role in “Israel’s” 2024 “pager and walkie-talkie” attacks in Lebanon.
According to the book, “Israel’s” Mossad had been using Palantir’s technology even before the 2024 escalation in Gaza and Lebanon. Following the October 7 events, Steinberger writes, “Israel’s’ Shin Bet and military ‘sought to obtain Palantir’s software,” prompting the US firm to accelerate deployment.
“The demand for Palantir’s assistance was so great that the company dispatched a team of engineers from London to help get Israeli users online,” Steinberger writes.
He also said that Palantir went as far as renting an additional floor in its Tel Aviv office to train Israeli intelligence analysts and expand operational capacity.
The documents further include discussions of large payments to former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair for consulting work, with Barak and Epstein questioning how much reached Blair versus intermediaries.
Overall, the files show Barak’s extensive political and business interactions with Epstein, illustrating the depth of their collaboration across international, political, and technological spheres.
According to The Cradle, the Epstein files further indicate that Jeffrey Epstein funnelled money to the Israeli military and to the Jewish National Fund (JNF), an organisation known for backing Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.
IRS documents from 2005 tied to Epstein’s charitable foundation, COUQ, list a $25,000 contribution to Friends of the Israel Defence Forces (FIDF), a US-based nonprofit that fundraises in coordination with “Israel’s” military to support soldiers and military infrastructure.
In 2008, as he was facing charges related to the sex trafficking of minors, Epstein travelled to “Israel,” where he toured military bases alongside FIDF chairman Benny Shabtai.
The same IRS filings also show a $15,000 donation to the JNF, which plays a role in the seizure of Palestinian land for settlement expansion. COUQ additionally made donations to Harvard and Columbia Universities, as well as to Hillel International, a US organisation that promotes Zionism and pro-“Israel” advocacy on university campuses.
A 2019 New York Times investigation reported that COUQ received approximately $21 million in stock and cash from charities linked to billionaire Leslie H. Wexner, the owner of Victoria’s Secret. Separately, another Epstein-linked foundation, Gratitude America, received a $10 million contribution in 2015 from a company connected to private equity billionaire Leon D. Black.
The deeper you go, the darker the files get…
The files reveal a range of deeply disturbing details, growing darker the further one examines them. While some revelations have dominated media outlets, others have been quietly overlooked or pushed aside. This makes it all the more important to highlight several of the most consequential findings to emerge recently.
ISIS and al-Qaeda
In this email, Epstein seems to be criticizing US foreign policy incoherence, arguing that Washington does not operate as a unified decision-making system while also showing that Al Nusra is supported by the US, among other things.
It is noteworthy that the entire conversation about these important events was taking place between Epstein and Thomas Pritzker, who is an American billionaire heir and businessman, with both of them not having any known political role at the time.
Dissecting this email reveals many things, prominently US support for groups it has designated as terrorists, while also highlighting deep contradictions in US power structures at the time these correspondences were exchanged between Epstein and Pritzker in 2016.
“On Sep 5, 2016, at 6:33 PM, jeffrey E. <jeevacation®gmail.com> wrote:
major take away was that he us does not act with one voice white house pentagon, state , cia. .
support for nusra, attacking kurds, but arming them etc.”
By stating that the US does not act “with one voice,” Epstein is describing what he sees as deep contradictions within the US power structure, particularly between the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, and the CIA.
Epstein explicitly links these contradictions to US conduct on the ground, seeming to say that while certain US-backed forces, notably Kurdish groups, were being attacked or undermined, other branches of the US state were at the same time supporting terrorist groups such as al-Nusra. His reference to “support for nusra, attacking kurds, but arming them” reflects this.
“On Mon, Sep 5, 2016 at 7:59 PM, Pritzker, Tom < wrote:
Yes. There is a tradecraft name for this Administration’s approach. ‘Cluster f***’. When China began
building bases in S China Seas we ran “freedom of navigation” cruises. This is a technical process that
describes which of the ship’s systems are on and which systems are off. O orders it done, Pentagon sends over details and Susan Rice views systems on/off not as a protocol but as a menu of options. She overrules Pentagon and orders which systems SHE wants on and off. In effect, WH diluted challenge for which freedom of navigation cruises were designed. He had a foreign policy strategy that was articulated at Cairo. It is a failed strategy and he failed to change when its failure was clear. Would like to hear what Ehud thought when he first heard Cairo. Good example was complete withdrawal from Iraq (military, diplomatic and economic) followed by passive support for Maliki who then slaughtered Sunnis and made ISIS a rational alternative.”
Tom Pritzker responds by endorsing Epstein’s assessment and characterising the Obama administration’s foreign policy as fundamentally disordered, using the term “cluster f***” to describe what he views as systemic dysfunction rather than isolated mistakes.
To illustrate this, he points to US “freedom of navigation” operations in the South China Sea, which are designed to assert US military dominance there, and he argues that although these operations are meant to follow fixed military procedures, political intervention from the White House, which he attributes directly to then–National Security Advisor Susan Rice, transformed these protocols into adjustable political choices. In his account, this White House interference weakened the intended confrontation with China.
Pritzker then situates this dysfunction within what he identifies as Barack Obama’s broader foreign policy vision, first presented in the 2009 Cairo speech. He dismisses this strategy as a failure and accuses the administration of persisting with it despite mounting evidence of its destructive outcomes across the region.
“Would like to hear what Ehud thought when he first heard Cairo. Good example was complete withdrawal from Iraq (military, diplomatic and economic) followed by passive support for Maliki, who then slaughtered Sunnis and made ISIS a rational alternative.”
By invoking Ehud Barak, Pritzker is not making a casual aside but appealing to the judgment of a senior Israeli political and military figure with direct experience in US-Israeli coordination and regional warfare, and further highlights Israeli influence on the US and in the region.
In this context, Barak is positioned as a benchmark for “serious” regional expertise, implying that those embedded in the architecture of US-Israeli power would have immediately recognised the speech as detached from the realities of domination, occupation, and force projection in the region.
The mention of Barak directly precedes the Iraq example, linking Israeli strategic assessments to the critique of US policy outcomes. Pritzker’s argument implies that figures like Barak would interpret Iraq not as a failure of implementation, but as proof that US policy, even when framed in the language of restraint or disengagement, continued to reproduce sectarian violence and state collapse. In this framing, the rise of ISIS is presented not as an unforeseeable consequence, but as a predictable outcome of US withdrawal combined with selective political backing, reinforcing the idea that regional instability remained compatible with US and allied strategic calculations.
The email thread continues with Epstein writing: “nusra, isis , al queda, jaba , hamas , the leaders all prefer donald wild.”
In this line, Epstein asserts that leaders of various groups the US has labelled as terrorists preferred Donald Trump, implying that unpredictability, institutional breakdown, or open hostility to diplomacy was seen as advantageous to their objectives.
“turkey gives nusra a heads up on Iraqi recruits. slaughter. – russia gives erdogan a heads up on coup. – us gives a pass on isis to palmyra. . assad has no support , so will stay. ! . nuclear base in turkey.. soviet defense in iran. . saudi in yemen . egypt about to lose all financial support.. jordan has 1 m refugeees. as does lebanon.”
This email not only shows how deeply Epstein was politically involved, but his statement that the US “gave a pass” to ISIS in Palmyra within the email’s logic reflects the belief that Washington selectively refrained from intervention, allowing ISIS to advance when its actions aligned with broader US objectives against the Syrian state.
What is particularly striking is that this analysis comes from Epstein and Thomas Pritzker, neither of whom held any formal government or policymaking role at the time. That two private figures, a convicted sex offender and a billionaire businessman, were privy to, discussing, and critiquing US strategy in Syria, Iraq, and beyond highlights the permeability of American foreign policy circles to elite influence and informal networks. It suggests that critical strategic decisions and assessments are not confined to official channels, but are actively observed and interpreted by wealthy private actors, some of whom may have their own interests in regional outcomes.
‘SOMALIWOOD STUDIOS’
One of the emails, sent in 2012 to Steven Sinofsky, an American businessman, investor, and former president of the Windows Division at Microsoft, had the subject line: “i had a fun idea.” The content of this “fun” idea is particularly striking given the context.
It is important to note that Sinofsky resigned from Microsoft on November 13, 2012, and the email exchange, sent from an unknown individual to Sinofsky, with Epstein cc’d, occurred after Epstein’s 2008 conviction in Florida for sex crimes but before Sinofsky left Microsoft.
The email begins with the unknown sender writing: “We should talk to the boys in LA about this,” and suggesting, “What if we put together a small group that professionalised the African film industry.”
The sender references Nollywood in Nigeria, noting: “There is currently a small movement called Nollywood (in Nigeria) and the big boss there is a YGL. She was telling me how hard it was since no one knew how to ‘do’ film.”
Then comes the so-called “fun idea”: “But…we could build a small studio in Somaliland and call it SOMALIWOOD STUDIOS,” adding, “Imagine the cool filming…beaches, desert, etc.”
What is particularly striking is the way the email frames the project as morally sound, emphasising that nothing “immoral” would be filmed there: “We could invite muslim and all sorts of groups to film there. We would make it a part of the mission to not allow anything immoral to be filmed there.”
It is reasonable to speculate that this emphasis may have been an attempt to rehabilitate Epstein’s public image, presenting him as a supporter of cultural and ethical initiatives, despite his 2008 conviction for sex crimes.
On the surface, the email presents a cultural or philanthropic angle. Yet, given Epstein’s conviction for procuring minors for sex, the inclusion of a statement about prohibiting “immoral” content, followed immediately by: “Could do like Sesame Street type stuff (children’s programming etc for African kids),” adding “THey have serious tech ability there. Could put together a CGI facility that would rival any,” appears bizarre and deeply unsettling.
The sender even notes: “I’m copying Jeffrey since he might also think this would be FUN FUN FUN,” and adds, “Movies are a lot like products.”
This raises profound questions. Why was an unknown individual brainstorming a media venture in Africa with a convicted pedophile, and why was this being sent to the then-president of Microsoft’s Windows Division?
Beyond the immediate absurdity, the email underscores a broader pattern: powerful individuals leveraging their influence to shape global culture, from Hollywood to emerging media markets, often with little transparency or accountability. The idea of “SOMALIWOOD STUDIOS” becomes a lens through which to examine how wealthy elites and convicted criminals can intertwine in global entertainment, soft power, and public perception management.
But the story does not end there. The suggestion to build a studio in Somaliland takes on new significance in light of recent developments.
As of early February 2026, Somaliland is reportedly preparing to finalise a trade agreement with the Israeli regime, according to Reuters.
This follows the territory’s historic recognition by “Israel” in December 2025, the only entity to formally acknowledge Somaliland, despite its decades-long quest for international recognition.“Israel” quickly moved to cement ties, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing plans for cooperation in agriculture, health, technology, and economic sectors.
Jewish Supremacy?
In one revealing email from 2017, a woman named Masha Drokova wrote to Epstein, suggesting she had identified criteria for finding “smart people.”
“I found criteria to find smart people,” Drokova wrote.
“The more Jew you are the smarter you are. You said you’re ~98% Jew. You’re very smart. My ex-boss is 78% Jew. He is super smart, less smart than you are,” she added.
“I have a close friend/business partner who is 99.3% Jew. He is crazily smart.”
Drokova explicitly linked intelligence to Jewish ancestry, implying that the more Jewish someone is, the smarter they are, a logic that, if taken literally, suggests that non-Jewish people are not intelligent at all.
Her next suggestion was equally striking:
“We take all Jewish people, sourcing can be done through relatives. Ask them to do 23&me test. Do event for everyone who is 98% Jew. Also all of them are not religious.”
In other words, Drokova proposed screening Jews via DNA testing and hosting an event exclusively for those above a certain “percentage” of Jewish ancestry. She concluded the email with the question:“Do you think it makes sense, right?”
The email is revealing not just for its bizarre premise, but for the underlying attitude: it treats ethnicity and intelligence as measurable, exclusive, and manipulable, a stark illustration of the kind of elitist, pseudo-scientific thinking circulating in Epstein’s network, and the casual normalisation of both ethnic stereotyping and exclusionary practices.
The Pandemic
More than one email from the newly released Epstein files discusses a pandemic scenario.
Online observers have noted these emails and speculated about potential links to COVID-19, particularly one message involving Gates Ventures (formerly known as bgC3). The email indicates that Larry Cohen and a sender whose identity was redacted were tasked with preparing “deliverables” related to the sender’s time at bgC3. Among these deliverables was a plan described as: “Follow-up recommendations and/or technical specifications for Strain pandemic situation.”
While there is no concrete evidence connecting Epstein directly to the COVID-19 outbreak, the emails raise serious questions: why was Epstein involved in discussions of pandemic planning, and what influence did his network of high-profile associates have over public health initiatives and biotechnological projects?
The Epstein Reality
The information presented in this piece represents only a fragment of what can be described as the Epstein Reality. This term is used deliberately. The Epstein Files, and the story of Jeffrey Epstein himself, are not simply the account of one criminal individual, but a window into a broader system, one produced by imperial power structures and sustained by political, financial, and military elites.
This system is not abstract. It is materially connected to the suffering of millions around the world. To say it affects everyone may sound extreme, but the Epstein Files have demonstrated something crucial: no one was beyond the reach of this network, and no one is truly safe from the consequences of the people exposed within it. These are not marginal figures. They are individuals with power: those who control data, shape narratives, fund wars, and enable genocide.
The files also dismantle the illusion of partisan morality. They show that this reality transcends political branding. Democrats and Republicans alike appear in the documents, revealing that the system protects itself by presenting false choices: this party versus that party, while the same elite networks remain untouched, unaccountable, and intact.
The Epstein Reality is a dark one. Epstein himself died by what was officially ruled a “suicide” just before facing trial. Yet his death did not dismantle the system that enabled him. The other Epsteins of this world are still alive, still influential, still shielded.
Millions of documents have now been released. They have been searched, archived, and cited countless times. But the more urgent question remains largely unasked: what does it mean when this volume of evidence still fails to produce justice? When can it not hold perpetrators accountable? When can it not incriminate those who should be punished?
If a documented genocide has failed to bring accountability to “Israel,” then it is not surprising that the Epstein Reality persists. The real question is why oppressed peoples are continuously asked to abandon resistance, while systems that produce violence, exploitation, and impunity are left untouched.
This, ultimately, is the real face of imperialism: a system in which overwhelming evidence produces no justice, power remains insulated from consequence, and resistance is condemned while violence is normalised.
