Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
Epstein Chronicles. Everybody wants to tell the Epstein story like
it starts on the island and ends in a jail cell.
That's the version that's easy to digest. That's the version
that keeps this whole thing contained morally, politically, emotionally, one monster,
a handful of powerful friends, case closed. That version is
a joke because if you've actually spent time going through
the filings, the bank records, the civil suits, the compliance reports,
if you've looked at how the money moved, then you
already know the truth. Jeffrey Epstein wasn't just operating around
Wall Street. He was embedded into it, not adjacent, not orbiting, embedded.
This dude didn't have a traditional client list. He didn't
run a normal fund. There's no clean paper trail that
explains how he went from a college dropout to managing
billions for some of the most powerful people on Earth.
What he had instead was access, access to capital, access
to people, and most importantly, access to institutions that treated
him like he belonged there. And that's the part that
should bother you, because banks don't just miss people like Epstein.
Not at that level, not for that long. We're talking
about a man who was flagged repeatedly, transactions that didn't
make sense, payments to individuals that raised obvious questions, patterns
that in any other context would have triggered account shutdowns,
regulatory escalation, the whole nine yards. And yet the relationship
stayed open, the money kept moving, the doors didn't close. Why. Well,
that's the question nobody in the financial world has given
a straight answer to. Not to the public anyway, because
once you start pulling on that thread, you're not just
talking about Epstein anymore. You're talking about the banks. You're
talking about the executives who signed off on keeping them
as a client. You're talking about compliance departments that saw
the smoke and decided it wasn't worth looking for the fire,
And make no mistake, that's a decision. People like to
frame this as in competence. It's more comfortable that way.
But when you see the volume of activity, the duration,
the consistency of warnings, in competence stops being a serious explanation.
At some point, it becomes wilful. At some point, the
calculation is simple. The relationship is more valuable than the risk,
and that's Wall Street's language, value versus risk, and Epstein
somehow kept landing on the value side of the equation.
So when people say that this story has been told,
no it hasn't, not even close. The public has barely
scratched the surface of the financial side of this, the
real mechanics, the internal conversations, the decisions made behind closed
doors when his name came up in risk meetings. And
that's where this story actually lives, not the headlines, not
in the photo ops, in the wires, in the ledgers,
in the emails. Nobody wants to release. And that's the
part that's still coming out. And when it does, it's
not going to be about one guy anymore. It's going
to be about an entire financial ecosystem that saw exactly
what he was and kept doing business with him anyway.
Today's article was published by The Wall Street Journal and
the headline how Epstein collected insider tips on stocks and
startups from his network. This article was authored by Emily
Glazer and Mark Mehremont. A disclaimer in Jeffrey Epstein's email
signature was a provocation as much as a warning. The
contents of this message may constitute inside information for Epstein,
the line between social networking and securities law wasn't blurred.
It was part of the way that he conducted business.
The Epstein files show how easily the sex offender collected
confidential information from his well connected associates, and a lot
of it had to do with access going both ways. Remember,
Epstein wasn't doing anything for free. He wasn't doing anything
because he's a nice guy, like we've talked about a
million times, or that he had love for his country,
or that he was this religious guy who cared about
insert country here. Brote didn't care. He cared about advancing self.
That's it. And anybody who really knows his story knows
that to do that he had to exploit the financial sector,
and like the virus he was, that's exactly what he did.
Epstein received board minutes from Ehud Barack about a tech
startup where the Israeli politician was chairman JP Morgan Chase
executive Jess Daley email details about an M and A deal.
That is, the bank was secretly working on. A key
advisor to Bill Gates passed along information about biotech startups
his billionaire boss was investing in. And this is what
Epstein did, he collected information. Keep in mind that information
at the level that Epstein was at is worth more
than actual money. These people have a ton of money,
right what they don't have is the intelligence that they
need to make more of it. And that's why Jeffrey
Epstein was so useful of these people for so long.
And of course when that usefulness ended, well we all
know the story. Epstein sometimes used his tips cultivated from
his network to invest for himself, whether his associates or
the companies knew it or not, according to a Wall
Street Journal review of the files. Other times, there's no
public record that Epstein acted on the information that he amassed,
some of which came his way as a wealthy individual
with connections to billionaires hedge funds and their investment firms.
And you know, I don't know how much stock I
put into that, honestly, because Epstein could have easily been
investing in startups and funds and things we have no
idea about under fictitious names or under other people's identity.
We know that's something that the Epstein organization was very
adept at doing. And we know about all the immigration fraud,
So who knows where all this money ended up. My
guess is Epstein has a bunch of accounts nobody even
knows about. Well, maybe his executors, but as far as
the federal authorities, they probably have no idea. A representative
for Barrock told the journal that Epstein was an investor
in a partnership and entitled to receive information about the startup.
Boris Nikolch, the Gates advisor, said what he shared was
public information or material he was authorized to share. Staley
and his lawyer didn't respond to requests for comment. Well,
I don't expect Jess Staley to say a damn thing.
He's up against it, and Staley knows that he's still exposed,
one of the very few people that is actually exposed here.
And I think that if the federal government wanted to,
if they had the appetite for it, they could probably
indict him. The Epstein files also show how willing Epstein's
associates were to share private material beyond financial information. Andrew
mount Baton Winsor, the former Prince Andrew, is under investigation
for potentially sharing confidential UK government reports with Epstein. So
is former British diplomat Peter Mandelson and it's crazy to
think that over in the UK they've made arrests and
here in America these dudes are still running around as
part of the President's cabinet. Talk about a national embarrassment,
hell international embarrassment. Mount Baton Winsor has denied wrongdoing in
relation to his dealings with Epstein. Mandelssohn has said he
regretted association with Epstein, but neither man responded to requests
for comment. Trading wasn't the source of most Ebstein's wealth,
which came from advising billionaires, likely On Black and former
Victorious secret boss Les Wesner. His estate was worth at
least five hundred and seventy seven million, including his private
island and properties, according to court papers filed after Epstein's death.
He was arrested in twenty nineteen on federal sex trafficking
charges and died while in custody. And remember he had
two islands, not just one. He had Little Saint James
and Greater Saint James. Nikolich Gates, longtime science advisor, emailed
Epstein about Foundation Medicine, a molecular diagnostic testing company, in
late twenty twelve, around the time that Gates took a
significant stake in the startup. At that time, Nikolic, a
physician and investor, advised Gates on tens of millions of
dollars and investments in healthcare and biotech companies, According to
people familiar with his work and documents he later shared
with investors that were reviewed by the Journal. Gates and
his representatives received access to confidential financial information As a
major early investor in Foundation Medicine. Nicolch, in turn, sent
documents discussing the investment to Epstein. Of course he did.
And Boris Nicolitch is another guy that was super close
to Ebstein that lied about how close they were for
all these years, and he's still trying to bullshit. I'm
sure that Jeffrey Epstein named you as an executor of
his estate because he was just throwing darts out of
dartboard and your picture was up there. I never shared
material non public information with Epstein, Nicolich told the Journal.
He said that the Foundation Medicine material he shared was
public or included in the company's prospectus. If Epstein and invested,
he did so on the public market when anybody could invest.
Does anyone believe that we all know Epstein was operating
at a different level, and he was using information that
he was getting from people like this, And this whole
entire class of people does this. They're all engaging in
insider trading, including your favorite congressman or woman. Meanwhile, we
have people like Martha Stewart going to prison for doing
the same exact thing. In July and August of twenty thirteen,
Nikolicch forwarded to Epstein emails discussing gates investment in the
startup and attached some documents about information rights and financial
terms of the investment. Please see all docs and let
me know questions asap, he wrote. Around that time, Epstein
was helping Nikolich negotiate a separation from gates private office.
Nikolch said he was authorized to share the material to
negotiate his exit. A spokesperson for Gates didn't respond to
requests for common So again, another person, Boris Nikolch, who
is high profile as hell, has a ton of money.
Why is he going to Jeffrey Epstein for advice? And
of course it's the same question we have time and
time again, all these rich people with all these resources
going to a college dropout to get all this super
important financial advice, how do you shove that square into
the circle? Two days later, Nicolch emailed Epstein, did you
see Foundation Medicine? You probably made around thirty percent in
the last two days. The company's coming in with a
number of new products. I do think it might hit
post IPO forty two again soon. A few months later,
Nicolch sent Epstein analyst research about Foundation Medicine and told
Epstein that he expected greatly increased revenue. FMI was doubling
its revenue four three to four years in a row
and will continue, according to an April twenty fourteen email.
And this is the sort of thing that's very damaging. Right,
we have a paper trail. There is no argument you
sent these emails. You sent this information, and it also
approves to us how much closer you two were than
you ever let on. So the conclusion I come to,
like I have with just about everybody else in this story,
is that Boris Nikolitch is a liar. In January twenty fifteen,
Swiss drug giant Rochet paid fifty dollars a share for
roughly a fifty six percent stake in Foundation Medicine OH
one hundred and nine percent premium well, isn't that something?
The company that makes rufies bought a company that was
backed by Jeffrey Epstein. The irony does not escape me.
In July of that year, one of Epstein's bankers emailed
about Foundation Medicine, noting that Epstein was long about fifty
thousand shares at an average price of about twenty five
thirty eight. It isn't clear when Epstein purchased other shares
or how long he held onto his stay. In June
of twenty eighteen, Roche said it would buy the remaining
shares and Foundation Medicine at one hundred and thirty seven
dollars a share. No insider trading here though. Epstein just
had a feel for it. He had a knack for it.
In fact, he was a mix of Gordon Gecko and
Warren Buffett. Epstein also invested in Adidas Medicine, a gene
editing company where Nickolitch served on the board and Gates
was a major investor through the Nickelach Fund. On February third,
twenty sixteen, the day Editus went public, Nicolch wrote to Epstein,
we were six times oversubscribed, which is a miracle considering
horrible markets. Weeks after the public offering, Epstein purchased thirty
two hundred shares of Editus for thirty one ninety three apiece.
Two days later, Epstein email Nicolitch referencing Editus. Nikolch responded,
so far, so great. Epstein's accountant emailed Epstein in December
twenty eighteen to notify him that Nikolch was stepping down
from the board. It's unclear how long Epstein held his
position in Editis, which traded around twenty five dollars when
Epstein died. Well, I think the takeaway here is how
deep Epstein was embedded when it comes to Wall Street
and how many inside information type tips he was receiving
and using for his own benefit. One of Epstein's most
valuable inside sources, according to the Journal's review, appeared to
be Staley, who was a senior JP Morgan executive until
twenty thirteen. He had a close relationship with Epstein and
they exchanged hundreds of emails over the years. The file show, Well, look,
Staley was a lot more than Epstein's banker. They were very,
very close, and Jess Staley was somebody that was close
enough to Ebstein that he was able to use the
island when Epstein wasn't even there. So that just shows you,
in tells you the kind of friendship that these two had.
Do you know anybody who's going to let you go
to their island without them there especially, and let you
use it somebody who doesn't consider you a friend. I
find that very hard to believe. In December of two
thousand and nine, Staley shared with Epstein internal JP Morgan
compensation deliberations, including that thirty four people were expected to
earn more than ten million that year and CEO Jamie
Diamond's perspective on pay issues. Amid a public backlash, Epstein
in twenty ten bought JP Morgan preferred stock, and its
financial statement show he held it for years, owning at
least five point seven million worth. In early twenty nineteen,
Staley also sent Epstein insider information about other matters. In
twenty ten, the wealthy Pritzker Klan was nearing the end
of a process to split up the family empire. Among
Warren cousins, planned to sell a chunk of the credit
reporting agency TransUnion, which the Pritzkers controlled. Thomas Pritzker, a
senior family member who also was in close touch with
Epstein sent in April tenth, twenty ten, email to Staley,
he was also credibly accused of abusing Virginia. They always
like to leave that part out, though, don't they, which
is wild considering they have no problem bringing it up
when it has to do with Prince Andrew Thomas Pritzker,
a senior family member who also was in close touch
with Epstein, sent in April tenth, twenty ten email to Staley.
Pritzker discussed a deal to sell fifty one percent of
a company to Madison Dearborn Partners, a private equity firm,
while keeping forty nine percent for the family and adding
to my personal problem of cash accumulation. Imagine having that
kind of personal problem. I wish I could accumulate cash
like a Pritzker, but that's for them. For the rest
of us, we accumulate debt. Shortly after, Staley, whose bank
JP Morgan was advising Madison Dearborn, forwarded Pritzker's email to Epstein,
writing FYI. Less than three weeks later, after Epstein got
his private information, TransUnion announced on April twenty ninth that
the Pritzkers were selling a fifty one percent stake to
Madison Dearborn while retaining forty nine percent. A JP Morgan
Chase spokesman said it wasn't aware of Staley sharing confidential
information with Epstein until after he left the bank. Pritzker
declined to comment, as did Madison Dearborn. Well, of course
they know they've been caught, and they have no good
answers for any of us. And you know why that
is because there's no acceptable answer. They all knew what
Epstein was. They did not care, not one bit, And
it's not even debatable at this point. Barack, the former
israe really politician, met with Epstein dozens of times and
traveled to his private island. In twenty fifteen, Barack invested
in and later was named chairman of Reporte, an Israeli startup.
The Epstein files revealed that Epstein was much of the
money behind Barack's one point five million dollar investment in
the technology company. Epstein later loaned one million to an
entity formed by Barock for the deal, and later converted
the loan into a partnership interest. The document show and look,
there is no doubt the ties between Jeffrey Epstein and
Ehud Barack. These two were super close and they were
involved in a whole host of business dealings together. But
does that make him a massad spy. It doesn't, But
I think it really slams the point home of just
how connected Jeffrey Epstein was at home and abroad, and
when it comes to Barack, there's a whole host of
reasons why Jeffrey Epstein would want to finance that. And
it's just another example of the parasitic nature of Jeffrey Epstein.
Every time you see one of these deals, he's latching on.
For a guy like Jeffrey Epstein, there was never enough,
never enough money, never enough information to be had, and
certainly never enough debauchery. Epstein received a string of inside
information about the company from Barrock. In January twenty sixteen,
Barack sent an email to Epstein where he shared the
minutes from a report YE board meeting. The minute showed
the board had authorized the CEO the contact venture capitalist
Horaise ten million moving forward very well. Barock wrote, It's
all a scam, all of these Wall Street startups and
all these financial companies and hedge funds. I don't trust
any of them, not one of them. In an email,
the spokesperson for office said report He was a private,
untraded company, and that Epstein, as an investor in Reporty
through a partnership run by Barock, was entitled to receive
certain information. All of Brock's business activities, including Reporty, were
conducted under careful legal advice and according to the law.
His spokesman said. Report He changed its name to Carbine
in twenty eighteen and later that year raised additional funds.
In twenty twenty, the company said that Barack was stepping
down from its board, and that's because he was exposed
as Epstein's body, not because Carbine wanted to, you know,
have a better face on the company, wanted to do
a better job. They were outed, so they had to
make a move. Carbin was bought by Taser stun gun
maker Axon for six hundred and twenty five million in
November of twenty twenty five. It's unclear how long Epstein
held the investment in the company. Epstein was also an
investor in Apollo, where he got some confidential information from
his close ties to Black the private equity firms then CEO.
Epstein invested in Apollo's twenty eleven IPO and owned more
than two hundred and fifty thousand shares purchased at a
cost basis of about five million. The file show the
Homi hookup. Got to make sure you get those IPOs right,
got to make sure you're in on it. Got to
make sure the scam is going your way. Epstein knew
Black since the nineties and provided tax and estate planning
advice to Black from twenty twelve to twenty seventeen. If
you say so, who really believes that he was providing
that kind of advice for Leon Black? And if you do,
maybe you should give your head a shake, because that's
some ridiculous ass nonsense. Epstein signed an agreement in twenty
thirteen to keep confidential any material he received in providing
those services. In March of twenty fifteen, Epstein received an
email more confidential material non public info from the finance
chief of Black's family office. The email projected, among other things,
that Apollo's cash distribution equivalent to a dividend for the
first quarter of twenty fifteen would be about thirty four
cents per share. When Apollo announced its quarterly earnings two
months later, the cash distribution turned out to be thirty
three cents per share. A spokesman for blacks At Epstein
provided tax and planning services for Black's family office, and
was given information about the holdings and Apollo for these purposes.
The value of Epstein's stake in Apollo as of February
twenty nineteen, shortly before he died, was about seven point
seven million, showing a gain of about two point seven million. Well,
of course, it was always a gain for people like this. Meanwhile,
me and you, well you already know. So. Look, there's
no doubt that Jeffrey Epstein was deeply embedded in Wall
Street and the financial sector. And there's no doubt in
my mind anyway that not only was he embedded, not
only was he welcomed with open arms, he was protected
at all costs. And the question that we should all
be asking is why. All the information that goes with
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