(NewsNation) — Jeffrey Epstein was worth hundreds of millions of dollars at the time of his death, but questions remained on how the disgraced financier made his money.
The registered sex offender invested in multiple businesses over the years, as well as managed the funds of the uber wealthy, according to the New York Times.
Epstein died by suicide in 2019, while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. According to a criminal filing obtained by CBS News, Epstein was worth $560 million.
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Epstein began his career in wealth management in the 1980s after he began working at Bear Sterns, where he became a partner in three to four years, according to the BBC. He was with the company until it crashed in 2008 after the housing crash, CBS News reports.
According to the New York Times, in 2015 and 2016, Epstein invested $40 million into a pair of funds managed by venture capital firm Valar Ventures, a New York firm co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel.
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Valar is still the largest asset held by Epstein’s estate, which is now worth $200 million, the Times reports.
Epstein was once the personal money manager of L Brands CEO and Chairman Les Wexner and reportedly made $200 million through Wexner’s business dealings, CBS News reports.
In addition to Wexner, Epstein worked with Apollo Global Management Chairman Leon Black, who reportedly paid the financier $158 million for tax and estate planning services, according to a Senate Finance Committee document.
Jeffrey Epstein’s properties
Epstein reportedly owned several properties worth over $100 million, including a $50 million townhouse in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, a $12 million mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, a $17 million ranch in New Mexico, and apartment in Paris reportedly worth $8.6 million, as well as an island called Little St. James in the Caribbean, worth $64 million.
A house stands above a boat on Little St. James Island, owned by fund manager Jeffrey Epstein, in St. Thomas on July 10, 2019. (Marco Bello/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Settlements for Epstein’s victims
Epstein’s estate, as well as companies he has invested in, has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements to Epstein’s victims.
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In 2023, JPMorgan Chase paid $290 million to sexual abuse victims who claimed that the bank ignored warnings about Epstein, according to the New York Times. That same year, a U.S. judge approved a $75 million settlement between Deutsche Bank and Epstein victims, who accused the bank of aiding in his alleged sex trafficking, CNN reported.
