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Notes on the financial oligarchy: Jeffrey

Epstein and the criminality of the ruling class
Gabriel Black
10 May 2023

In August 2019, financier Jeffrey Epstein died in the Metropolitan Today, this process of monopolization and globalization has produced a
Correctional Center in Manhattan as he awaited trial for criminal charges remarkably narrow financial oligarchy. Stripped of their money and
relating to his decades-long sex trafficking of underage girls. While ownership, they would be little more than a handful of people confronting
officially declared a suicide, his death was more likely murder, a contract the great mass of the population. And yet the global economy is
killing to silence the specialist in deal-making and tax evasion—and sex subordinated to their quest for enrichment.
trafficker—before a trial could produce evidence that would implicate
many others in the US ruling elite.
At the time, the World Socialist Web Site asked two important questions.
First, why was the media dismissing questions about Epstein’s death A fixer for the financial aristocracy
as “conspiracy theories”? Two, who wanted Jeffrey Epstein dead?
We argued Epstein’s case was significant not because of the financier’s
particular depravity but rather because his operation and death expressed Epstein functioned essentially as a fixer for this layer. He serviced the
something true about capitalist society as a whole. We wrote: top layers of the financial oligarchy, parasitically attaching himself to
them in the process.
Epstein himself was not a leading banker or financier in his own right.
The super-rich prey upon the poor and the vulnerable, using His $500 million fortune was amassed by helping billionaires manage and
them as they wish. They make use of their connections to cover up direct their own fortunes. His rise to power and influence was based on his
their crimes, or, depending on the circumstances, arrange for the initial role in managing the fortunes of Leslie Wexner, the billionaire
elimination of those former friends and associates whose activities owner of the Limited, corporate owner of Bath & Body Works,
have become an inconvenience or a danger. Abercrombie & Fitch, Victoria’s Secret and other well-known retailers.
Reflecting the general rise of financial parasitism in the global economy,
Epstein amassed half a billion dollars without ever being involved in the
Almost four years after Epstein’s death, a series of articles last week in production of anything.
the Wall Street Journal have made it possible to peer further into this His “work”—as further revealed by the Journal’s report—was that of
incestuous world of high finance and corporate-state power in which connecting the ultra-rich, and those who wanted access to them. He made
Epstein played a key intermediary role. tens of millions of dollars in the process.
Due to ongoing lawsuits filed by the attorney general of the Virgin To succeed in this rarefied world, Epstein threw lavish parties,
Islands, and by an unnamed victim of Epstein’s abuse, the Journal has exchanged favors and sought to woo and impress, through various means.
been able to access thousands of pages of emails and schedules of Epstein, The sex-trafficking operation Epstein ran was, in this sense, a kind of
dating from 2013 to 2017. The lawsuits are against JPMorgan Chase and tool he leveraged as part of his larger operations to acquire financial
allege the bank knowingly facilitated the financial transactions that clients and establish relationships. It allowed him to monetize his own
Epstein used to fund his abuse of young girls. proclivities and those of selected clients.
The material from the Journal is limited to dates from a calendar diary As one person familiar with Epstein and his operations explained
of Epstein’s meetings and various notes and emails over the four-year anonymously to the Guardian, “If you invested money with him, he’d get
period. It provides just a small window into Epstein’s operations over 30 you laid. They were young girls with no contacts, who they [potential
years, and his wide circle of contacts. However, it is enough to get a investors] had no ability to meet. It was like a dating service and the girls
glimpse—or perhaps a smell—of this world of powerful corporate, financial were like the candy on a stick.”
and state actors, and their incessant intermingling. There was, of course, another side to this for Epstein: insurance in the
Epstein was regularly meeting with the most powerful figures in the form of blackmail.
global economy, as well as their key political agents—from Kathryn Epstein purportedly had video cameras throughout his compound in the
Ruemmler, general counsel in the Obama White House and later at Virgin Islands, as well as his Manhattan and Florida properties. When the
Goldman Sachs, to Leon Black, the billionaire owner of Apollo Global FBI raided Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse, they found boxes of hard-
Management, one of the largest asset managers in the world. drives and CDs, photos and binders, which included labeled pornographic
It is no secret that a few thousand people, and the institutions they material collected from his cameras. With the shutdown of the criminal
control, have effective ownership over nearly every major company and case following his death, none of this material has been brought to light.
bank in the world. The development of capitalism into a highly stratified Sex with women and girls, however, was by no means the only or even
world dominated, not by competition, but by the decisions of a handful of principal tool Epstein was using to cultivate relationships with the ultra-
giant monopolies, is a central prediction of Marx’s economic work. rich. The vast majority of the people mentioned in the recent Wall Street

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Journal reports are not suspected of having partaken in the massages, sex whom anything is obtainable.
and orgies Epstein proffered, yet Epstein curried favor with them in other In Epstein’s case he proffered, among other things, a world of massages
ways. and sex with pubescent girls. These extremely young women, coming
Epstein frequently entertained guests at his Manhattan townhouse or from impoverished, destitute communities—trailer parks in Florida and
flew people down to his island in the Caribbean. Epstein’s meeting diary, broken homes—were lured by the promise of a few hundred dollars. The
which the Wall Street Journal obtained, contains notes on the food cash was significant to them but mere pennies for the men who abused
preferences and interests of various guests. He made sure a specific type them.
of sushi roll was available when he met with Kathryn Ruemmler. But this economy of decadent, nepotistic and often illegal favors served
Likewise, he had special food items provided for Joshua Cooper Ramo, fundamentally to grease the wheels of what was the main event: massive
the former co-chief executive of Henry Kissinger’s consulting firm. His economic transactions involving hundreds of millions, sometimes billions
secretary would be tasked with upgrading the flights of financiers and of dollars.
lawyers he was trying to woo, giving them first class tickets.
Epstein tried to cultivate connections with noted academics and artists,
including Jeffery Koons, Noam Chomsky, Martin Nowak (a Harvard
biologist), Leon Botstein (music director of the American Symphony Epstein’s ties to the financial and political elite
Orchestra) and Helen Fisher (a leading anthropologist).
The Wall Street Journal writes that Barnaby Marsh, an executive at the
time of the John Templeton Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic Below we review several of the significant connections Epstein had that
organizations in the world, “often went to Epstein’s townhouse for were revealed by the Wall Street Journal’s report, and the type of
gatherings because it was full of academics and wealthy people who dealings that occurred.
discussed philanthropy ideas.” Marsh told the Journal, “So many of those Leon Black—Billionaire, Apollo Global Management
billionaires knew him. And he would sit in the corner, just kind of Leon Black co-founded Apollo Global Management, currently ranked in
watching.” the top 25 largest private equity firms in the world. In 2022, Apollo had a
The former prime minister of Israel, Ehud Barak, told the Wall Street staggering $548 billion worth of assets under management. Apollo holds
Journal that Epstein “often brought other interesting persons, from art or and manages a wide range of assets ranging from Harrah’s Entertainment
culture, law or science, finance, diplomacy or philanthropy” to his to Smart & Final.
Manhattan parties. Epstein met with Black well over a hundred times between 2013 and
One of the key services that Epstein provided was to bring figures 2017. A review from Apollo found that Black paid $148 million to
within the financial aristocracy together for mutual profit. Epstein for what was described as “tax and estate planning.”
Essentially what Epstein was providing was advice on tax evasion.
Apollo’s report stated that Black “believed and witnesses generally
agreed, that Epstein provided advice that conferred more than $1 billion
Mutual favors and “finder’s fees” and as much as $2 billion or more” in reduced taxes. One or two billion
dollars is an incredible amount of missed tax money. And that from a
single firm—Apple, Amazon, every major corporation engages in elaborate
He was essential, for example, in hooking up the billionaire Glenn schemes of this sort year in and year out. Meanwhile the capitalist
Dubin with Jes Staley, an executive of JPMorgan Chase and close politicians and the corporate media declare that “there is no money” to
confidant of Epstein. For this role, Epstein reportedly received a “finder’s fund necessary social services for working people and the poor.
fee” of $15 million for his role in brokering the sale of Dubin’s Black and Epstein are reported to have frequently socialized with each
Highbridge Capital to JPMorgan Chase. Highbridge Capital oversees other. Epstein was a founding trustee of the Debra and Leon Black
several billion dollars’ worth of assets, including GFL Environmental, Foundation, the charitable foundation Black established.
one of the largest waste management companies in Canada, and the Black’s net worth is $9 billion. Black also served as a trustee for the
Danaher Corporation, a Washington D.C.-based industrial and Museum of Modern Art in New York City. He owns tens of millions of
biotechnology conglomerate. dollars’ worth of art, including Edvard Munch’s The Scream, which he
Epstein also exchanged various favors with Ariane de Rothschild, one of bought for $119.9 million in 2012.
the richest women in the world and CEO of the Edmond de Rothschild Black stepped down from his position at Apollo Global Management in
Group, one of the largest private banks. In 2013 she helped Epstein in 2021, after his close ties to Epstein were revealed. He is being sued by
finding a multilingual female assistant. The next year she purchased a several women who claim that he sexually assaulted them at Epstein’s
million dollars’ worth of auction items for him. In 2015, after she became mansion, suits newly permitted under the Adult Survivors Act, the same
president of Edmond de Rothschild Group, she made a $25 million New York state law that allowed E. Jean Carroll to sue former president
contract with Epstein for his company to provide risk analysis. In the Donald Trump.
following years, the Journal reports Epstein returned the favor, Kathryn Ruemmler—General counsel for Obama White House,
introducing “the bank to U.S. finance leaders.” He also “recommended Goldman Sachs
law firms and provided tax and risk consulting.” Kathryn Ruemmler is a leading figure in the legal establishment,
These dealings form only a part of Epstein’s overall activities. But they specializing in civil law. She was the lead federal prosecutor in the case
give a sense of the backscratching world of the ultra-rich, one in which against the executives of Enron. In 2011, she was invited by the Obama
everyone more or less knows each other as they trade in a stream of administration to become the White House Counsel, leading a team of 25
personal favors and extravagant, often sordid, experiences. lawyers, which she did until 2014.
Private jets, tropical island retreats, lavish star-studded parties, access Among other things, Ruemmler was involved with the administration’s
and leverage over prestigious academic institutions like Harvard and MIT, attempt to cover up the Obama administration’s extrajudicial
the lending of hundred-million-dollar yachts for vacations, and, yes, drone assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki and his 16-year old son—both
sex—these were all currency among this thin layer of the population for American citizens.

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 According to Newsweek, Ruemmler was opposed to revealing thetocouple
theflew a distraught 15-year-old Swedish girl back to Sweden who
public either the killing of Awlaki or the pseudo-legal justification the was “involved in some forced sexual activity at Epstein’s Caribbean
administration had produced to justify it. Later she played a key role in island.” The Dubins deny this.
convincing Democratic lawmakers to overlook the issue in the case of the Epstein went on to assist the Dubins’ daughter. He arranged for her to
confirmation of David Barron, the author of the legal memos justifying obtain modeling jobs with some fashion brands and set up a meeting for
the assassination, as he faced a congressional vote on his appointment to a her with a professor at Harvard while she was a student there. On another
federal judgeship (See Senate Democrats confirm drone memo author for occasion Eva and her daughter dined with Epstein and Bill Gates at
second-highest US court). Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse.
When Ruemmler left the White House, Obama stated that she was “a Ariane de Rothschild—Billionaire banker, Edmond de Rothschild
close personal friend” and that he would continue to make use of her CEO
advice and counsel. At the very same time, Ruemmler began to have Ariane de Rothschild married into the Rothschild banking family and is
dozens of meetings with Epstein. now head of the Edmond de Rothschild bank, based in Switzerland.
Epstein originally met with Ruemmler to see if she would be interested Rothschild met with Epstein over a dozen times between 2013 and 2019.
in representing Bill Gates and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It is unclear how they originally became acquainted.
Ruemmler, however, did not, and went back to her old job at Latham and Rothschild and Epstein engaged in a variety of favors for each other.
Watkins, the second largest law firm in the world. At Latham she worked Epstein asked Rothschild to scout him a new female assistant that was
in white-collar defense, that is defending corporations against lawsuits, “multilingual … organized.” Epstein brokered Rothschild’s hiring of
including ones brought by the government. Ruemmler’s law firm Latham and Watkins.
Her career trajectory typifies the “revolving door” between corporate Ariane de Rothschild was named CEO of the bank in 2015; previously
lawyers tasked with evading government oversight and the federal she was a vice president. In 2019, when the bank became fully private, she
prosecutors ostensibly charged with carrying it out. became chairman of the board. The bank is one of the largest privately
Later, Epstein was key in connecting Ruemmler to Ariane de owned banks in the world, with $178 billion in assets. It has vast real
Rothschild. The CEO of the Rothschild family’s private bank, Edmond de estate and industrial investments throughout the world, but especially in
Rothschild Group, paid Latham tens of millions of dollars to help them Europe and Africa, including biotech companies, logistics centers,
navigate US financial regulations. commercial and residential real estate, and energy.
According to the Journal, Ruemmler was “scheduled to fly with Epstein Following internal disputes and general financial difficulties under the
to Paris and in 2017 he planned to stop in St. Lucia to take her to his changed economic environment of the last year, Ariane de
island home.” A spokesperson for her at Goldman Sachs, where Rothschild resumed control of the company as CEO this March.
Ruemmler now works as general counsel, denies that this happened. Rothschild helped Epstein buy some $1 million worth of items at
Internal memos from Epstein’s staff show concern about whether auctions in 2014 and 2015. She also hired Epstein’s company, Southern
Ruemmler would be “uncomfortable” with the various young women at Trust Co., for “risk analysis and the application and use of certain
Epstein’s properties. Epstein told some of these women not to be there algorithms” for $25 million.
when Ruemmler visited but told others it was okay. Epstein also introduced Rothschild to various other figures around him.
It is hard to believe that Ruemmler did not see anything. Even people For example, he scheduled a meeting between her and Joshua Cooper
who only briefly spent time with Epstein noticed. Ramo, a leading executive of the geopolitical consulting firm of Henry
Helen Fisher, an anthropologist who visited Epstein’s compound in the Kissinger and a member of the boards of FedEx and Starbucks.
Virgin Islands, hoping to obtain funding for her work—but did Mortimer Zuckerman—Billionaire, U.S. News & World Report,
not—remarked to the Journal, “I didn’t have anything to do with Jeffrey Boston Properties
Epstein. But I remembered it because of his spectacular house and A Canadian American billionaire, Mortimer Zuckerman, helped found
because of the six young women.” and formerly ran Boston Properties, a $21 billion real estate trust that
Epstein curried favor with Ruemmler in other ways, upgrading her owns significant downtown and commercial real estate throughout the US.
flights and ensuring her favorite sushi dish was on-hand when she visited He has owned U.S. News & World Report since 1984. The news company
for meetings. is known for its rankings such as “Best Colleges and Universities.”
In 2020, Ruemmler joined Goldman Sachs, where she was the global Zuckerman has over $2 billion in assets.
head of dealing with financial regulations. She is now the bank’s Chief Zuckerman met with Epstein over a dozen times between 2013 and
Legal Officer. 2017. It is unclear what the meetings were about. Their Manhattan
Glenn Dubin—Billionaire hedge-fund manager townhouses were near each other in the elite Upper East Side
Glenn Dubin is a billionaire hedge fund operator who founded neighborhood. Zuckerman has been subpoenaed as part of the lawsuits
Highbridge Capital Management. Eva Anderson-Dubin, his wife, a against JPMorgan Chase.
former “Miss Sweden,” dated Epstein in the 1980s and is now a well- Lawrence Summers—Former US Treasury Secretary, former chief
regarded doctor in New York City, specializing in breast cancer treatment. economic adviser to Obama, former president of Harvard
Eva and Epstein remained in contact years after they dated. Lawrence Summers is one of the most important economic
Epstein played the key role in helping Dubin sell Highbridge Capital to policymakers in the United States of the last two decades. He was the
JPMorgan Chase in 2004. The sale was for more than $1 billion. Epstein secretary of the treasury from 1999 to 2001 in the Clinton administration.
made $15 million from brokering the deal and $29 million in profit from In 2009 he became President Obama’s chief economic adviser, directing
his own share of ownership in Highbridge. According to the National Economic Council.
the Journal, “Some people [at Highbridge] felt it was odd to compensate During this time, Obama orchestrated a massive bailout of the major
[Epstein] for an introduction years earlier.” The amount is about 14 times banks and corporations and backed the Federal Reserve program of ultra-
what the average, full-time worker in the United States would make in a low interest rates that led to one of the largest transfers of wealth from the
lifetime—40 years—of work. poor to the rich in American history. Summers was also advising Obama
While the Dubins claim they were “horrified” to learn of Epstein’s sex- as he restructured the auto industry, which, among other things, reduced
trafficking, their former full-time chefs claimed in a 2016 deposition that the pay of new autoworkers by half. Summers was also president of

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Harvard University from 2001 to 2006. Department. In 2008 he was promoted by then President George W. Bush
Summers held more than a dozen meetings and dinners with Epstein to the position of Career Ambassador, the highest position in the US
between 2013 and 2016, likely in New York at his townhouse. Records foreign service—somewhat akin to being a four-star general. He was the
show Summers emailing Epstein for help with his wife’s fundraising. ambassador to Russia from 2005 to 2008 and played a significant role in
Summers’ wife, Elisa New, is a Harvard professor who runs a nonprofit the US-NATO expansion eastward. In the Obama administration he ran
that puts on the TV show Poetry in America. Epstein donated $110,000 to the State Department day to day from 2011 to 2014, serving as deputy
the nonprofit in 2016. first to Hillary Clinton and then to John Kerry. It is hardly credible that
The New York Times reported that Summers also attended social someone so steeped in the world of the US intelligence agencies would
gatherings at Epstein’s mansion, including one in 2011 which included “not know anything” about Epstein when they met.
Jes Staley, the executive of JPMorgan Chase, as well as Bill Gates. Terje Rød-Larsen—Norwegian politician, International Peace
Reid Hoffman—Billionaire, LinkedIn Institute
Reid Hoffman is a tech industry capitalist and billionaire known for Rød-Larsen was the key figure in the Oslo Accords—the first
starting LinkedIn, which he sold to Microsoft in 2016 for $26 billion. He agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. He
has an estimated personal worth of $3 billion. Reid is also an influential is a Norwegian politician and diplomat.
policy figure as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Rød-Larsen visited Epstein’s townhouse frequently between 2013 and
Reid met with Epstein to help raise funds for the Massachusetts Institute 2017. There were also plans for him to visit his island. Rød-Larsen
of Technology. He visited Epstein’s island in the Caribbean for a received a $130,000 direct loan from Epstein on one occasion and Epstein
weekend for the purpose of fundraising for MIT. The university confirmed funded Rød-Larsen’s foundation with a $650,000 donation.
that it instructed Hoffman to do so; it is unclear how many other Epstein sought to cash in on various attempts to broker deals between
interactions he and Epstein had. the Palestinian Authority and Israel, thus his meetings with Rød-Larsen as
Thomas Pritzker—Billionaire, Hyatt Hotels CEO well as Ehud Barak, the former Israeli prime minister, and Noam
Thomas is a member of the Pritzker family, one of the richest families in Chomsky.
the world, worth a total of $36.9 billion. He is the second wealthiest Ehud Barak—Former Israeli prime minister
member of the family, with assets valued at $5.3 billion. Their wealth Ehud Barak, Israeli prime minister from 1999 to 2001, was also the
comes mainly from the Hyatt Hotel corporation, the fifth largest hotel leader of the Labor Party. Barak scheduled over 30 meetings with Epstein
corporation in the world, where Thomas Pritzker is CEO. The Pritzkers in the time covered by the Journal’s investigation. They also flew together
are major donors to the Democratic Party. Thomas’s cousin J.B. Pritzker on Epstein’s private plane and visited his Palm Beach mansion together.
is the current governor of Illinois. “I flew only twice on his airplane, together with my wife and Israeli
According to the Journal, Epstein “scheduled several events at his security detail,” according to Barak. “In retrospect, [Epstein] seemed to be
[Manhattan] townhouse with Mr. Pritzker.” It is unclear what these events a terrible version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but at the time seemed to be
were and who attended. Neither Hyatt nor Pritzker has issued a comment an intelligent person, socially well connected.”
on it. Joshua Cooper Ramo—Vice chairman, Kissinger Associates
Bill Gates—Billionaire, Microsoft Joshua Cooper Ramo was an executive at Kissinger Associates, the New
Gates, the founder of Microsoft and once the world’s richest man, had York-based geopolitical consulting firm founded by the former secretary
significant ties to Epstein. Previously, the New York Times reported that state and war criminal. It technically belongs to the U.S.-Russia Business
Gates and Epstein began meeting at least as far back as 2011, when Gates Council, a trade organization consisting of ExxonMobil, JPMorgan Chase,
attended a dinner party at Epstein’s that included Eva Anderson-Dubin Pfizer and other major corporations.
and her daughter. Purportedly, Ramo and Epstein met over a dozen times between 2013
The Times reported that their meetings continued after that: “Mr. and 2017. It is unclear what they met about.
Epstein spoke with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and JPMorgan *****
Chase about a proposed multibillion-dollar charitable fund.” Epstein stood The names here are just a snapshot of a segment of Epstein’s life. His
to gain substantial amounts of money in fees from this. schedule was remarkable, but probably not all that unique. The financial
On September 8, 2014, Gates spent an entire six hours with Epstein oligarchy regularly carouses and convenes, conducting business in
attending meetings in Manhattan. However, by the end of the year, between lavish lunch dates and tropical getaways. Epstein may have been
the Times reports, their relationship had soured. Gates Foundation officials exceptionally brazen in his trafficking of teenage girls for sex, but the
seemed to believe that Epstein’s claims of what he could do for them overall culture of indulgence and excess is a general feature of this layer.
were dubious. This minuscule segment of the global population provides the day-to-
According to the Journal, Barnaby Marsh, an academic and ex- day, sometimes minute-by-minute, direction of the global economy. They
executive for the Templeton Foundation, “Epstein convened people, are continually engaged in making deals involving tens and hundreds of
including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, to try to solve problems facing millions of dollars, even billions, for their own personal gain. All global
rich donors, such as how to make large gifts.” Marsh also told economic and financial life is effectively subordinated to their acquisitive
the Journal that Epstein stated he was managing Gates’ money—but the impulses.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation disputes this. Epstein latched himself like a parasite to these proceedings, making
William Burns—Current director of the CIA himself useful as a conductor and fixer, and providing how-to advice for
William Burns, the current director of the CIA, met with Epstein twice tax evasion.
in 2014 as he was leaving the post of deputy secretary of state in the It should be obvious why Epstein died suddenly four years ago, once he
Obama administration. A CIA spokesperson said, “The Director did not fell into the clutches of the US legal system. He knew too much about
know anything about him, other than he was introduced as an expert in the what really goes on in the financial oligarchy. In offering orgies and other
financial services sector and offered general advice on transition to the crimes as part of his career as a financial dealmaker, he had hard evidence
private sector. The Director does not recall any further contact, including of the sordid lifestyles of dozens of extremely powerful people.
receiving a ride to the airport. They had no relationship.” At the end of the Roman Empire, the slave-owning elite retreated to
Burns is a seasoned member of the US intelligence agencies and State their lavish villas in Tuscany and France. Hoping to avoid the general

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 disintegration of urban life, they plunged their heads into barrels of wine,
living out fantasies in their villas.
But for all their excess, these ancient aristocrats could not hold a candle
to the degree of debauchery achieved by the modern-day financial
aristocracy. Surrounded on all sides by impossible conditions—economic
decline, internecine political warfare and growing mass discontent—they
participate in spectacles of wealth and excess that would outrage their
modern-day slaves and provoke unstoppable anger, and thus are better left
a secret.
Epstein was, at the end of the day, a facilitator, a bit player, not a major
actor in this world. His crimes, however grotesque, were a distilled
expression of the far broader exploitation this layer oversees and from
which it profits.

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