Jeffrey Epstein Owned Two Private Islands Before His Downfall
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Hulu is releasing a new documentary that is definitely to be on your watch list: Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons. So settle in, because it's about to be a wild ride.
The film does a deep dive into the rise and fall of the iconic lingerie brand, and its complicated history from 1995 to 2019.
But it also touches on its parent company's founder and CEO Leslie "Les" Wexner, and his ties to convicted sex offender and New York-financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting sex trafficking charges in jail, per Newsweek.
The three-episode docuseries is set to premiere on Thursday, July 14, on Hulu, as well as Disney+. And if you plan to watch, you're definitely going to want to know more about how Epstein was connected to the brand, and his overall net worth.
So after a little digging, here's everything you need to know about Jeffrey Epstein's net worth, career, properties, and more.
How did Jeffrey Epstein get rich?
Epstein had a long career that actually started as a math and physics teacher at The Dalton School, a prep school on Manhattan's Upper East Side, in his early twenties, per USA Today. He apparently tutored the son of New York-based investment firm Bear Stearns chairman Alan "Ace" Greenberg, who helped him get a job with Bear Stearns on Wall Street. He eventually became a "limited partner," the outlet reported.
In 1981, Epstein left the company to start his own company, Intercontinental Assets Group Inc. After that, he also started J. Epstein & Co., a money management firm, followed by another company, Financial Strategy Group Inc.
He began working as Les Wexner's financial manager in the 1980s, per Vanity Fair.
What properties did he own?
According to USA Today, Epstein owned six properties, along with other personal property, in New York, Florida, New Mexico, France, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Epstein had two Virgin Islands properties, Little St. James and Great St. James, which were private islands. Epstein bought Little St. James for $7.95 million in 1998, and it was later dubbed "Pedophile Island" and "Orgy Island" by locals, according to Business Insider.
He also acquired the 161-acre Great St. James two decades later for $22.5 million, according to Fortune.
Epstein also owned at least 15 vehicles and two planes, per CNN and Newsweek.
Who did his assets go to?
Everyone wants to know who got all of Epstein's money and properties after he died.
Well, just two days before his death, Epstein signed a new will that listed his brother Mark as his only heir, and put the money into a trust to make it harder for anyone to go after it, Newsweek reported that.
Unfortunately, it's unclear how everything was finally distributed.
Who owns Epstein Island now?
The islands went up for sale in 2022 for $125 million, according to Fortune. And lawyers from Epstein's estate said at the time that the money from the sale would go towards "resolving some of the disgraced financier's legal cases."
Daniel Weiner, a partner at New York law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed and executor of the island properties, told the BBC that the proceeds "will be used by the estate for the resolution of outstanding lawsuits and the regular costs of the estate's operations.”
What was his net worth at the peak of his wealth?
While it was rumored that Epstein was a billionaire at the height of his fame and fortune, that's not actually the case.
According to Newsweek, documents from an unspecified financial institution reported that Epstein's assets as of June 30, 2019, sat at just over $559 million. Breaking that down, $195 million of that dough was in hedge funds and private equities, $112.7 million was in equities, and $14.3 million was in fixed income. He only had $56.5 million in cash at the time.
What was his net worth when he died?
The new will Epstein signed before is death put his net worth at over $577.6 million—which is a whopping $18 million more than the previously reported.
However, his estate today can still get sued from victims alleging abuse by Epstein. And per Newsweek, attorney Lisa Bloom tweeted: "Give his entire estate to his victims, It is the only justice they can get. And they deserve it. And on behalf of the Epstein victims I represent, I intend to fight for it."
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