From Elon Musk to the former Prince Andrew, a who’s who of powerful men are named in Epstein files

NEW YORK — From tech giants to Wall Street power brokers to the British royal family, a bevy of powerful men are taking over the world document treasure It was announced Friday by the Justice Department in connection with its investigations into Jeffrey Epstein.

Many have denied having close ties to the late financier or at least any involvement in the allegations of sexual abuse of girls and young women that led to his arrest on sex trafficking charges.

None have been charged with a crime in connection with the investigation. Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019. Still, some maintained or rekindled friendships with Epstein even after he became known as a predator of young girls and a registered sex offender.

Here’s a rundown of some of the key figures in the Epstein files:

The man formerly known as Britain’s Prince Andrew has long been dogged by questions about his relationship with Epstein; Including allegations by the late Virginia Roberts Giuffre that she was trafficked by Epstein and instructed to have sex with Mountbatten-Windsor when she was 17.

The former prince has repeatedly denied that this took place, but his brother, King King III. Charles was nevertheless stripped of his royal titles, including the right to be called prince and Duke of York, late last year.

Mountbatten-Windsor’s name appears at least several hundred times in Friday’s document, including in Epstein’s private emails.

The correspondence includes an invitation from Epstein to dine at Buckingham Palace, an offer from Epstein to introduce Mountbatten-Windsor to a 26-year-old Russian woman, and photographs showing Mountbatten-Windsor kneeling over an unidentified woman lying on the ground.

The billionaire Tesla founder appeared at least a few times in Friday’s release of the document; particularly in email exchanges in 2012 and 2013, where he discussed visiting Epstein’s infamous Caribbean island compound.

However, it was not immediately clear whether the island visits took place. Spokespeople for Musk’s companies, Tesla and X, did not respond to emails seeking comment Friday or Saturday.

Musk maintained that he had repeatedly turned down the disgraced financier’s offers. In 2025, he posted on X: “Epstein tried to persuade me to go to his island, but I REFUSED.”

The New York Giants co-owner is mentioned more than 400 times in filings released Friday. Correspondence between the two shows saw Epstein offer to hook Tisch up with numerous women over the years.

In a 2013 email exchange with the subject line “Ukrainian girl,” Epstein encouraged Tisch to contact a particular woman whose physical beauty he praised in crude terms.

“Professional or civilian?” Tisch asked in response.

Tisch, the scion of a powerful New York family that founded the Loews Corporation, acknowledged knowing Epstein but denied ever going to the notorious Caribbean island.

“We had a brief relationship where we exchanged emails about adult women, and we also discussed movies, philanthropy and investments,” said Tisch, who won an Academy Award in 1994 for producing “Forrest Gump.” “As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret being with.”

President Donald Trump’s commerce secretary visited Epstein’s private Caribbean island with his family at least once, according to records released Friday.

This appears to contradict his previous statements decades ago in which he claimed to have cut ties with the disgraced financier whom he called “disgusting”.

But the emails show that Lutnick and his wife were at Little St. Louis in the U.S. Virgin Islands in December 2012. It shows that they have accepted the invitation to James and plan to come by yacht with their children.

The former president of Newmark, a major commercial real estate firm, also had drinks with Epstein on another occasion in 2011 and corresponded with him about construction of a building across the street from both houses.

The Commerce Department said in a statement that Lutnick “had limited interactions with Mr. Epstein in the presence of his wife and has never been accused of any wrongdoing.”

Emails show the billionaire Google co-founder made plans to meet with Epstein and his longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell at his New York townhouse years before he was publicly accused of sexually abusing underage girls.

In a 2003 exchange, Maxwell invited her to join him at a screening of Renee Zellweger’s film “Down with Love” in New York.

He followed up a few weeks later to invite her to a “happy, relaxed, relaxed” dinner at Epstein’s house. Brin offered to bring Google’s then-CEO Eric Schmidt along.

Google spokespeople did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Saturday.

Epstein, a onetime adviser to Trump, sent hundreds of friendly messages, some of which were sent months before his 2019 arrest and suicide in prison.

The pair engaged in politics, travel and Bannon was rumored to be planning a documentary to help salvage Epstein’s reputation.

For example, one post in 2018 focused on Trump’s threats to oust then-Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. In a 2019 message, Bannon asked Epstein if he could get a plane to pick him up from Rome.

Bannon did not respond to emails seeking comment.

Lajcak, the national security adviser to the Slovak prime minister, resigned on Saturday after Friday’s document revealed his past communications with Epstein.

Opposition parties and a nationalist partner in Fico’s ruling coalition had called for him to resign.

Lajcak, the former Slovak foreign minister and one-time president of the UN General Assembly, was not charged with any crimes but was photographed meeting with Epstein in the years between his initial release from prison and his later indictment on sex trafficking charges in 2019.

He said his correspondence with Epstein was part of his diplomatic duties.

Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of Virgin Group Limited, invited Epstein to his private island in 2013, saying in an email: “I’d love to see you whenever you’re in the area. Just bring your harem!”

Besides Epstein visiting Branson’s Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands, the two exchanged messages about philanthropy, Epstein’s ideas for a “disruptive” financial system and a “social good currency.”

In a 2011 email, Epstein said Branson offered his staff the use of his helicopter to transport a crash victim in the Virgin Islands.

In a correspondence dated September 11, 2013, Branson suggested that he could improve Epstein’s public image if he could get Bill Gates to say, “You have been an excellent advisor to him, you made a mistake years ago by sleeping with a 17 1/2-year-old woman and were punished for it, you more than learned your lesson and have done nothing illegal since then.”

A spokesperson for Branson told British news outlet the Independent that Branson’s “harem” comment was in reference to adult members of Epstein’s staff.

The spokesman said Branson decided to cut ties with Epstein after learning more about the “serious allegations” made against him.

“If they had the full picture and information, there would have been no contact whatsoever,” the spokesman said.

Associated Press reporters from around the world contributed to this story.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to the text.