Jeffrey Epstein Referred Bill Gates, Elon Musk to Major Bank: Former Executive

Bill Gates reacts during a visit with Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the Imperial College University, in central London on Feb. 15, 2023. Justin Tallis/Pool Photo via AP

Jeffrey Epstein referred wealthy people, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and business mogul Elon Musk, to JPMorgan Chase, a former Chase executive has acknowledged.

Mr. Epstein referred high net-worth clients like Mr. Gates, Mr. Musk, and Google co-founder Sergey Brin after he became one of Chase’s clients, Jes Staley said under oath during a recent deposition.

Other individuals Mr. Epstein connected with Chase included Mortimer Zuckerman, the publisher of U.S. World & News Report; former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers; Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, CEO of DP World; former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson; David Gergen, former adviser to Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton; and businessman Thomas Pritzker, cousin of current Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, according to Mr. Staley.

Those people all became Chase clients, including Mr. Musk, according to Mr. Staley.

The former Chase executive said that as far as he was aware, Mr. Epstein was not paid for making the references. JPMorgan has admitted that the bank discussed paying Mr. Epstein in connection with developing a donor fund with Mr. Gates and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation but said it did not pay him. The bank has also said that he was paid by a company involved in one Chase acquisition of a venture fund called Highbridge Capital Management.

Mr. Epstein’s motivation in referring potential clients to Chase, according to Mr. Staley, was to boost his network.

“I think he valued his network of contacts, and introducing me to Tom, vice versa, enhanced that network for him,” Mr. Staley said, referring to the introduction to Mr. Pritzker.

Mr. Epstein became a Chase client in 1985. Douglas Warner, a Chase executive, once said that Mr. Epstein was “one of the most connected people I know of in New York,” Mr. Staley recalled. Mr. Staley called Mr. Epstein “one of our very big clients in the US” in a 2005 email, and a document also recently made public shows he was the bank’s top investor in terms of revenue performance in 2003 and 2004.

Mr. Staley was deposed in June as part of a set of legal cases involving him, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Chase. The deposition was made public in late July. Chase is accused of helping facilitate Mr. Epstein’s trafficking by keeping him as a customer after he was arrested and pleaded guilty to sex crimes. A settlement payment is pending.

Representatives for Mr. Gates and the other individuals Mr. Staley named either could not be reached or did not respond to requests for comment with the exception of a representative for Mr. Summers, who declined to comment.

JPMorgan acknowledged in a separate filing that Mr. Epstein referred people to the bank but denied knowledge of referrals of specific individuals who were named by lawyers, including Mr. Pritzker.

One bank memo said that Mr. Staley referred Mr. Brin to Chase’s San Francisco Private Bank in 2004 and an internal email described Mr. Epstein as “the advisor to the Google founders.”

Other people were or may have been referred to Chase by Mr. Epstein, but may not have become clients, according to Mr. Staley. That list included former Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Nathan Myhrvold, former White House lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler, and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

Jes Staley in London on Jan. 11, 2018. Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images

Subpoenas and Comments

Mr. Musk was among those subpoenaed earlier this year for information about whether Mr. Epstein referred him to Chase.

Mr. Musk said at the time that Mr. Epstein never advised him and that Mr. Epstein was a “cretin” and a “dumb crook.” Mr. Epstein, a convicted sex offender, died while awaiting trial in 2019 in what was ruled a suicide.

Some others identified by Mr. Staley have acknowledged interacting with Mr. Epstein.

Mr. Gates, for instance, has said that he met with Mr. Epstein on multiple occasions and that he regrets the meetings.

A spokesperson has said that Mr. Gates was the subject of a blackmail attempt and that Mr. Gates had “no financial dealings” with Mr. Epstein.

A number of high-profile people have for years been known, through evidence such as documents and photographs, to have been in contact with Mr. Epstein, including journalist Katie Couric, ABC News host George Stephanopoulos, and Mr. Myhrvold. Mr. Epstein owned homes in New York City, New Mexico, and Florida, among other places, as well as two islands in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Arrest

Mr. Epstein was arrested in Florida in 2006 after authorities spent nearly a year investigating allegations he sexually abused minors.

Palm Beach Police Department officers interviewed five victims and 17 witnesses, who said the victims were invited to Mr. Epstein’s home, asked to massage Mr. Epstein, and offered money after he sexually abused them.

After Mr. Epstein was arrested, Mr. Staley went to one of his homes and spoke with him about the allegations. Mr. Staley said Mr. Epstein admitted to engaging in sex for money but did deny an aspect of the claims.

“I went and saw him last night. I’ve never seen him so shaken. He also adamantly denies the ages,” Mr. Staley wrote in one email to a colleague.

Mr. Staley said that he reported to Jamie Dimon, his superior, regarding the arrest.

Mr. Staley and other officials decided not to stop doing business with Mr. Epstein. Instead, they limited the services they provided in an attempt to “mitigate ... the risk” presented by Mr. Epstein.

U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services' sex offender registry on March 28, 2017. New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services via Reuters

Pleaded Guilty

Mr. Epstein eventually pleaded guilty to two counts, including soliciting a minor for prostitution, in exchange for immunity from federal prosecution, and was sentenced to time in prison. But Chase still kept Mr. Epstein as a client, even as some officials became more vocal about their distaste for him.

“Jes Staley conferred with [General Counsel of JPMorgan Chase] Stephen Cutler and the decision was made to keep Mr. Epstein as a client,” one internal memorandum stated.

“Our view is that Mr. Epstein has severed his time and completing his duties to society,” the memo, dated July 17, 2010, stated.

That view held even as officials exchanged emails with news stories about the charges against Mr. Epstein and reports that he was being investigated for child sex trafficking by federal authorities.

The bank did eventually “exit” Mr. Epstein in 2013, but continued working with him through accounts held by his clients, including billionaire Leon Black.

“We all now understand that Epstein’s behavior was monstrous, and we believe this settlement is in the best interest of all parties, especially the survivors, who suffered unimaginable abuse at the hands of this man,” a spokeswoman for JPMorgan Chase told The Epoch Times in a statement earlier this year. “Any association with him was a mistake and we regret it. We would never have continued to do business with him if we believed he was using our bank in any way to help commit heinous crimes.”

Mr. Epstein transferred his money to Deutsche Bank, which was also sued by the Virgin Islands. Deutsche Bank has also agreed to pay to settle the claims.