Jeffrey Epstein’s $559 million worth of assets, itemized
It looks like convicted sex offender and “billionaire” financier Jeffrey E. Epstein is not a billionaire after all.
A court document published on Monday puts his total assets at $559.12 million, well short of $1 billion.
According to the document, he has $194.9 million in hedge fund and private equity investments, $112.7 million in stocks, and $14.3 million in fixed income.
In terms of real estate, Epstein owns a palatial home on Manhattan's Upper East Side valued at $55.9 million, a Palm Beach mansion worth $12.38 million, a ranch in New Mexico worth $17.25 million, and a private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands called Little St. James assessed at $63.87 million.
There's no mention of his private jet.
Until his arrest earlier this month on charges that he "exploited and abused" dozens of underage girls, Epstein maintained a lavish lifestyle with his fleet of aircraft and luxury cars, mansions, and his own private island.
In arguing against Epstein securing bail, federal prosecutors pointed out that he’s "extravagantly wealthy" and worth more than $500 million.
They also accused Epstein of paying off potential witnesses. Last year, around the time Miami Herald began publishing articles as part of an investigative series into Epstein’s alleged abuse of underage girls, prosectors say he wired $100,000 from a trust account to a possible co-conspirator. A few days later, he wired $250,000 from the same trust to another possible co-conspirator, prosecutors said on Friday.
"Neither of these payments appears to be recurring or repeating during the approximately five years of bank records presently available to the Government. This course of action, and in particular its timing, suggests the defendant was attempting to further influence co-conspirators who might provide information against him in light of the recently re-emerging allegations," U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman wrote in a memo.
Still, the source of Epstein’s wealth remains a mystery.
A two-time college dropout from a working-class family in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn, the story is that Epstein rose to the top of the hedge fund world by only managing the assets of clients with a net-worth of $1 billion or more. However, Yahoo Finance spoke to several people in the hedge fund space who had never run into Epstein or any of his trades. What’s more, there are also no regulatory filings, such as 13Fs, tied to his purported hedge fund firm. He’s never spoken at any of the major hedge fund industry events, either.
The only known client of Epstein’s is billionaire Leslie H. Wexner, the founder of L Brands (LB), the parent company of lingerie retailer Victoria’s Secret. Wexner is said to have severed ties with Epstein over a decade ago, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The investigation into Epstein began in 2005 by the Palm Beach Police Department. As the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida began preparing federal criminal charges, Epstein's attorneys began plea bargain discussions. On September 24, 2007, Epstein signed a controversial non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. attorney's office. In that agreement, he pleaded guilty to one count of the solicitation of prostitution and agreed that he would register as a sex offender. He also agreed to a 30-month sentence, including 18 months of jail time and 12 months of community control. In exchange, the U.S. attorney's office agreed to not pursue federal charges.
Epstein was released in 2009 from the Palm Beach county stockade after only 13 months spent in the private wing with six days of work release per week.
Despite being a convicted sex offender, he continued to socialize with the upper echelons of the business world.
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Julia La Roche is a reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.
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