Despite being a convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein amassed more than $600 million in assets and maintained a lavish lifestyle until his arrest in 2019, according to a financial audit included in court documents.
Epstein’s connections to Silicon Valley and high-profile startups date back to the dot-com era, long before his criminal activity became public. Even as scrutiny over his abuse of teenage girls and young women intensified, Epstein continued— with the help of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and communications professionals—to source and invest in prominent deals.
One notable example is Coinbase. Epstein became an early investor in Coinbase in 2014, when the company was still a two-year-old startup building a platform for buying and selling Bitcoin. Crypto entrepreneur Brock Pierce introduced Epstein to the company. Pierce later sent Epstein updates on the business that were signed by Coinbase founders Fred Ehrsam and Brian Armstrong, according to the New York Times.
In a 2014 message to associates, Ehrsam wrote that it “would be nice to meet him if convenient,” referring to Epstein, who was preparing to invest $3 million in the company. At the time, Epstein was already a convicted sex offender, but Coinbase accepted his money nonetheless.
As Coinbase grew into a leading cryptocurrency platform, Epstein’s stake multiplied in value. In 2018, he sold half of his holdings to Brock Pierce for $15 million, though it remains unclear when or if he sold the rest.
https://www.inc.com/leila-sheridan/new-files-show-jeffrey-epstein-invested-in-buzzy-startups-long-after-his-conviction/91298373