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p> EPSTEIN from 14 asking questions and teenage girls started talking, a wave of legal resistance followed. If Palm Beach police didn’t know quite who Jeffrey Epstein was, they found out soon enough. Epstein, now 53, was a quintes- sential man of mystery. He amassed his fortune and friends quietly, always in the background as he navigated New York high society. When he first attracted notice in the early 1990s, it was on account of the woman he was dating: Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of the late British media tycoon Robert Maxwell. In a lengthy article, headlined “The Mystery of Ghislaine Max- well’s Secret Love,” the British Mail on Sunday tabloid laid.out specula- tive stories that the socialite’s beau was a CIA spook, a math teacher, a concert pianist or a corporate head- hunter. “But what is the truth about him?” the newspaper wondered. “Like Maxwell, Epstein is both flamboyant and intensely private.” The media frenzy did not begin in full until a decade later. In Sep- tember 2002, Epstein was flung into the limelight when he flew Clinton and actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker to Africa on his private jet. Suddenly everyone wanted to know who Epstein was. New York magazine and Vanity Fair published lengthy profiles. The New York Post listed him as one of the city’s most eligible bachelors and began describing him in its gossip columns with adjectives such as “mysterious” and “reclusive.” Although Epstein gave no inter- views, the broad strokes of his past started to come into focus. Building a life of extravagance He was born blue-collar in 1953, the son of a New York City parks department employee, and raised in Brooklyn’s Coney Island neighbor- hood. He left college without a bachelor’s degree but became a math teacher at the prestigious Dalton School in Manhattan. The story goes that the father of one of Epstein’s students was so impressed with the man that he put him in touch with a senior partner at Bear Stearns, the global investment bank and securities firm. _ _ 111976, Epstein left Dalton for a job at Bear Stearns. By the early 1980s, he had started J. Epstein and Co. That is when he began making his millions in earnest. e eptnnttewenry chi Fiala: 2 Little is known or said about 6 Epstein’s business except this: He — manages money for the extremely wealthy. He is said to accounts only of $1 billion or great- er. It has been estimated he has : roughly 15 clients, but their identi- - ties are the subject of only specula- tion. All except for one: Leslie Wex- ner, founder of The Limited retail ‘ chain and a former Palm Beacher who is said to have been a mentor to Epstein. Wexner sold Epstein one of his | most lavish residences: a massive | townhouse that dominates a block | on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. It | is reported to have, among its finer | features, closed-circuit television | and a heated sidewalk to melt away | fallen snow. That townhouse, thought to be the largest private residence in ; Manhattan, is only a piece of the | extravagant world Epstein built over : time. In New Mexico, he constructed a | 27,000-square-foot hilltop mansion ona 10,000-acre ranch outside Santa | Fe. Many believed itto be the largest | home in the state. handle . “In Palm Beach, he bought a | waterfront home on El Brillo Way. | And he owns a 100-acre private island in the Virgin Islands. Perhaps as remarkable as his lavish homes is his extensive net- | work of friends and associates at the | highest echelons of power. This | includes not only socialites but also | business tycoons, media moguls, | politicians, royalty and Nobel Prize- winning scientists whose research ‘he often funds. “Just like other people collect | art, he collects scientists,” said Martin Nowak, who directs the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics at Harvard University and was reportedly the recipient of a $30 | million research donation from Epstein. Epstein And yet he managed for decades to maintain a low profile. He avoids ' eating out and was rarely photo- -graphed. is said to have , | befriended former Harvard Presi- | | dent Larry Summers, prominent law | Professor Alan Dershowitz, Donald | Trump and New York Daily News 1 Publisher Mort Zuckerman. “The odd thing is I never met him,” said Dominick Dunne, the famous chronicler of the trials and tribulations of the very rich. “I wasn’t even aware of him,” except fora Vanity Fair article. Epstein’s friendship with Clinton has attracted the most attention. Epstein met Clinton as early as 1995, when he paid tens of thou- sands of dollars to join him at an intimate fund-raising dinner in Palm Beach. But from all appearances, they did not become close friends until after Clinton left the Oval Office and moved to New York. Epstein has donated more than $100,000 to Democratic candidates’ campaigns, including John Kerry’s presidential bid, the reelection campaign of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and the Senate bids of : Joe Lieberman, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Christopher Dodd and Charles Schumer. Powerful friends and enemies A Vanity Fair profile found cracks in the veneer of Epstein’s life story. The 2003 article said he left Bear Stearns in the wake of a federal probe and a possible Securities and Exchange Commission violation. It also pointed out that Citibank once sued him for defaulting on a $20 million loan. The article suggested that one of his business mentors and previous employers was Steven Hoffenberg, now serving a prison term after © “pilking investors out of more than $450 million in one of the largest ‘Ponzi schemes in American histo- ry. As he amassed his wealth, Epstein made enemies in disputes both large and small. He sued the -man who in 1990 sold him his multimillion-dollar Palm Beach home over a dispute about less than $56,000 in furnishings. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_ 018932