Jeffrey Epstein's Career Was Marked by Questionable Deals and Mysterious Financial Moves

In January 2024, a federal judge in New York unsealed hundreds of legal documents about accused sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. According to CBS News, they contained "depositions, incident reports, court filings, emails and other documents including names of witnesses, accusers, members of Epstein's staff, members of law enforcement, and others." Some of these testimonies were about the rich and famous people Epstein allegedly rubbed elbows with.

Names like Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, and Stephen Hawking were found in said documents. Evidently, Epstein would often name-drop A-list celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz, both of whom later denied ever having met the business mogul. Gaining access to these kinds of rooms isn't easy. It can take money, charisma, or both. What did Jeffrey Epstein do for a living? Here's what we know.

Like many wealthy men, Epstein did not finish college. Despite this, in 1974, he found himself teaching "math and physics at the Dalton School, a private K-12 institution whose students are the sons and daughters of New York City’s elite," reported the Miami Herald. Lynne Koeppel, daughter of the late Alan Greenberg, an executive at Bear Stearns investment bank, told the outlet that Epstein impressed her father so much during a parent-teacher conference that he was offered a job in finance.

He joined Bear Stearns in 1976 at the age of 23, and worked his way up from a low-level floor trader to partner in four short years. "He was very smart and he knew how to woo people, how to schmooze. He’s personable and makes good company," recalled Koeppel. Epstein departed Bear Stearns in 1981, reported Vanity Fair, to start his own company and claimed from that point on he only managed billionaires.

His company, Intercontinental Assets Group Inc. (IAG), focused on recovering stolen money from fraudulent brokers and lawyers. Friends who knew him at the time said Epstein referred to himself as a "bounty hunter." In 1987 he was hired as a consultant for Towers Financial Corporation. He was paid $25,000 ($69,000 in 2024) a month to help orchestrate hostile takeovers of companies like the now defunct Pan American World Airways. In 1993, Towers Financial Corporation was exposed as a ponzi scheme.

By the time Towers Financial Corporation collapsed, Epstein was already gone, having exited in 1989. He had already formed J. Epstein & Co in 1987 then founded Financial Strategy Group Inc. six years later, per USA Today. The only billionaire client publicly working with Epstein was Leslie Wexner, chairman and CEO of L Brands (formerly The Limited, Inc.) and Victoria's Secret. "Wexner had a couple of bad investments, and Jeffrey cleaned those up right away," a source told Vanity Fair.

Epstein was quickly involved in every aspect of Wexner's life and by 1995, was head of two of his foundations. Almost everyone who was working with or for Wexner before Epstein showed up on the scene was very confused as to how he got where he was. It was as if he appeared out of nowhere. Epstein's elusiveness would continue well into his other financial dealings which given what we know about his alleged extracurricular activities, makes a lot of sense.

Beyond handling money that belonged to other people, Epstein made quite a few investments himself. He contributed to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, when it was starting out. His career, like his personality, is best summed up by Rosa Monckton, the former C.E.O. of Tiffany & Co., who told Vanity Fair, "He never reveals his hand ... He’s a classic iceberg. What you see is not what you get.”