From Bill Gates to JPMorgan: Businesses and billionaire leaders caught up in the Epstein scandal
Also among those implicated in the saga are US President Donald Trump and former Prince Andrew
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[SINGAPORE] As Global Counsel collapsed into administration over its founder’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein, it joined a growing list of organisations and individuals scathed by the scandal surrounding the convicted sex offender, who died in 2019.
The public affairs consultancy, which had a presence in Singapore, was hit with an exodus of client departures due to its founder Peter Mandelson’s past relationship with Epstein.
This was despite the firm having cut ties with the former British politician in September 2025, on the same day he was sacked from his role as the UK’s envoy to the US.
Global Counsel’s collapse follows the release of fresh documents from the Epstein files, a vast multimedia collection containing millions of records related to his sex-trafficking operations, including images, videos and e-mails.
The documents released in January by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) did not just reignite interest in the scandal that erupted following Epstein’s arrest in July 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges; it also cast a light on numerous personalities and companies linked to him, from politicians and tech billionaires to Wall Street banks and Hollywood celebrities.
Global Counsel is just one entity caught in the fallout from a saga that has toppled companies, sent individuals to jail, and counts among those implicated US President Donald Trump and former Prince Andrew.
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Here are some others:
SpaceX and Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is known to have socialised with Epstein after the latter’s conviction as a sex offender in 2008.
The tech billionaire, who was invited to Epstein’s island but denies ever visiting it, has sought to publicly distance himself from the disgraced financier for years.
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E-mails released by the DOJ show Epstein visited SpaceX’s headquarters in 2013, although Musk claimed in 2020 that Epstein never toured his potentially US$800 billion space company, which is eyeing an initial public offering this year.
Notably, Epstein attempted to bring three foreign national women onto the premises, which raised security concerns; access to SpaceX’s facilities is often limited to US citizens as the firm manufactures defence-related technology.
Fed chair nominee Kevin Warsh
Trump’s nominee to replace US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell has been named in the DOJ documents.
Kevin Warsh, a 55-year-old Wall Street and public service veteran, once worked at Morgan Stanley, which has past links to Epstein.
Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation
The Microsoft co-founder abruptly withdrew from India’s AI Impact Summit amid increasing scrutiny of his links to Epstein after e-mails revealed correspondence between the financier and Gates Foundation staff.
While Gates’ absence was perceived as an additional setback for the flagship summit, the six-day event nonetheless garnered over US$200 billion in investment pledges for India’s AI infrastructure.
Gates has expressed regret over meeting Epstein. He has maintained that the relationship with Epstein was restricted to philanthropy-related discussions. He has also said that he neither did nor witnessed anything illicit.
Virgin Group founder Richard Branson
The British entrepreneur who founded the Virgin Group corresponded with Epstein in 2013, after the latter’s conviction. E-mails exchanged suggest the two had a warm relationship, The New York Times reported.
In a statement sent to The Business Times, a Virgin Group spokesperson said that contact between Branson and Epstein took place only on a few occasions and was “limited to group or business settings”.
It also said that Virgin Unite, the non-profit arm of Virgin Group, did not take donations from Epstein.
When Epstein offered a donation, Branson and his wife Joan called for due diligence to be carried out, which “uncovered serious allegations”.
“As a result of what the due diligence uncovered, Virgin Unite did not take the donation and Richard and Joan decided not to meet or speak with Epstein again,” the statement said.
Peter Mandelson and Global Counsel
The former UK cabinet minister faces allegations of suspected misconduct in public office. He is also under investigation for allegedly disclosing market-sensitive government information to Epstein when he was a minister.
This comes after e-mails between Mandelson and Epstein were determined to contain market-sensitive information that should not have been disclosed to those outside the government.
Police arrested Mandelson on Monday (Feb 23) in relation to a misconduct probe, stemming from his ties to Epstein.
Mandelson, who has publicly expressed regret for associating with Epstein, was released from police custody on bail hours after his arrest. His lawyers claimed that his arrest resulted from “baseless” suspicions of intent to abscond.
JPMorgan Chase and Jamie Dimon
America’s biggest bank has faced several lawsuits over its troubled relationship with Epstein, who was a client of 15 years – from 1998 to 2013 – before being kicked out.
In 2019, JPMorgan flagged more than US$1 billion in suspicious transactions linked to Epstein, who had moved hundreds of millions of dollars through the lender to Russian banks.
JPMorgan chief executive officer and Wall Street veteran Jamie Dimon has claimed he did not know of Epstein’s activities until news broke of the criminal operations in 2019.
However, top executives at the New York-based bank were actively involved with Epstein, and some staff even kept in contact with him after he shifted his accounts to Deutsche Bank.
JPMorgan deputies linked to Epstein include its former private banking chief Jes Staley and its current asset and wealth-management chief Mary Erdoes, who was aware of his sex-offender status.
In 2023, JPMorgan agreed to pay the US Virgin Islands – where Epstein’s island is located – a US$75 million settlement for a lawsuit that accused the bank of enabling Epstein’s sex trafficking.
That same year, it reached a US$290 million settlement with Epstein’s victims.
Wasserman Group leader, Hollywood talent agent Casey Wasserman
Hollywood talent agent Casey Wasserman came under fire after flirtatious e-mails he exchanged in 2003 with Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell – who is now serving a 20-year prison sentence – surfaced from the Epstein files.
His talent agency has lost high-profile clients, including pop star Chappell Roan and former US football player Abby Wambach. This has led him to announce plans to put up his agency for sale.
While Wasserman remains in charge of the organising committee of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, there are widespread calls for him to step down.
Deutsche Bank
Germany’s largest lender banked Epstein from 2013 to 2018 and processed hundreds of transactions for him. These included payments to victims and suspected accomplices.
New York state regulators accused the Frankfurt-based bank of failing to properly vet Epstein’s transactions despite publicly available data of his sexual offences.
Deutsche Bank agreed to pay regulators a US$150 million settlement for compliance failures involving Epstein.
Morgan Stanley
The investment bank continued to secure banking relationships with entities linked to Epstein following his conviction, opening accounts for his trusts from 2015 to 2019.
Documents showed Morgan Stanley had notified Epstein that it would cease its banking relationship with him after closing a trust account in 2017. However, it subsequently opened another account linked to him in 2019; this was closed shortly afterwards.
Former WEF chief Borge Brende
The president of the World Economic Forum (WEF) announced his resignation on Thursday after the organisation opened an independent probe into his relationship with Epstein.
Brende, who was previously Norwegian foreign minister, dined with Epstein thrice at business dinners and corresponded with him via e-mail and text messages.
He claims to have been unaware of Epstein’s criminal activity before the two met in 2018. He has also expressed remorse for not investigating Epstein more thoroughly.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin
Sergey Brin visited Epstein’s island and made dinner plans at his New York City townhouse in 2003, before the financier was convicted as a sex offender. He also corresponded with Maxwell.
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