Getty Jeffrey Epstein is dead, reports say.
Jeffrey Epstein has died. He did not have a wife nor was he ever married. He also never had kids.
On Saturday morning, it was reported that Epstein committed suicide, according to a tweet from ABC News correspondent Aaron Katersky. The hedge fund billionaire took his own life inside a Manhattan-area jail.
Last month, Epstein pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges, according to an indictment. He was arrested at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey after getting off of a flight from Paris.
Here’s what you need to know:
Epstein Didn’t Have a Wife & Never Had Kids
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Epstein was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1953. His parents, Pauline and Seymour Epstein, raised him and his brother, Mark, in Brooklyn. Jeffrey graduated from high school and went on to take college-level classes, but never obtained a degree.
In the mid-70s, he started working for Bear Stearns as an assistant. He remained focused on his career, climbing up the ladder until he eventually gained enough knowledge to open his own consulting firm in 1981.
Over the years, Epstein never married. Although he had a couple of longterm girlfriends, he never settled down. He also never had any children. Instead of starting a family, Epstein focused on his professional career. His net worth was estimated at $1 billion, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Epstein Was Accused of Paying Girls — Some as Young as 14 Years Old — to Have Sex With Him
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Along with fame and fortune came some extremely serious allegations. Epstein had allegedly been involved in a sex trafficking ring that involved young girls — some only 14 years old. This year, he faced sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking charges.
“Epstein, who has homes in Manhattan, Palm Beach, New Mexico, Paris and in the U.S. Virgin Islands, sexually abused nearly three dozen girls, mostly 13-16 years old, at his Palm Beach mansion from 1999 to 2006, according to investigators. He used the girls to help recruit other young girls as part of an operation that ran similar to a pyramid scheme. He also had recruiters who helped with his appointments, scheduling as many as three or four girls a day, the FBI probe found,” the Miami Herald previously reported.
It was no secret that Epstein liked women — though his alleged “secret” life may not have been public knowledge. In fact, according to Donald Trump biographer Tim O’Brien, Trump made mention of Epstein’s playboy lifestyle when speaking with a reporter back in the early 00s.
“I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it – Jeffrey enjoys his social life,” Trump supposedly said at the time. This exchange was detailed in a Fox News report from last month.
He Previously Dated Ghislaine Maxwell
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Epstein previously dated Ghislaine Maxwell, and rumors indicate that she later became his madam — a claim that she has denied. Ghislaine met Epstein in New York after her father, media mogul Robert Maxwell, died.
Ghislaine was a socialite and was friends with many high-profile people. After she and Epstein ended their romantic relationship, sources claim that the two “worked” together.
According to the Miami Herald, Ghislaine used “recruiters positioned throughout the world to lure women by promising them modeling assignments, educational opportunities. and fashion careers. The pitch was really a ruse to groom them into sex trafficking, it is alleged in court records.”
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