Now on to the main event…

Amid the 20,000-page trove of Jeffrey Epstein–related documents released by the House Oversight Committee last month were two dozen or so emails, from 2015 and 2016, from the disgraced, late pedophile and federally indicted sex trafficker to billionaire Apollo founder Leon Black. You will recall that Leon’s charmed Wall Street career was essentially derailed by his seemingly inexplicable friendship with Epstein—a former Dalton math teacher and Bear Stearns trader whom Leon turned to for help in trying to solve some thorny personal trust and estate issues. As Leon told me last year, Epstein’s advice helped save him some $2 billion, so he felt comfortable paying Epstein $158 million for all that hard work. The fees paid to Epstein—later verified by Dechert, the independent law firm hired, at Leon’s suggestion, by a special committee of the Apollo board of directors to investigate his involvement with Epstein—was an awful lot to pay for tax and estate advice, of course, and many people on Wall Street had trouble digesting the amount.

But Epstein was not satisfied, and he wanted Leon to pay him more. The email correspondence largely consists of lengthy diatribes focused on what Epstein perceived to be the mismanagement of Elysium, Leon’s family office, particularly under the leadership of Brad Wechsler, Leon’s longtime friend from the Fieldston School and the former co-C.E.O. of Imax Corporation. There were no replies from Leon—he claims not to use email—which may have proven to be quite fortuitous, in retrospect, helping him avoid the fate of, say, Larry Summers.

Epstein, it seemed, was big on stream-of-consciousness ranting, replete with exhausting, e e cummings–like punctuation (much of which I have fixed in the emails I cite below). “Leon,” one Epstein missive from February 2015 begins, “Yesterday, I again spent hours upon hours of my time with your office. ([S]peak to [B]rad to get flavor) and you and I will discuss the results in gory gruesome detail on Friday. [I]t mirrored many other weeks spent doing the things that I don’t have the time to do.”

He then served up an analogy for Leon. “You and your family are a 6 billion dollar corp[oration]. with an income between 250-500 million dollars per year,” Epstein continued. “It contains a few operating biz’s, a large wide array of existing investments, in various categories, a desire to enter into others. A panoply of loans, notes, purchases, [a] wide range of all types of taxes, planes[,] boats[,] homes, trusts, [GRATs], a crazy number of bank acc[ount]s[,] (with no oversight), law firms, acc[oun]t[ing] firms, 800-page tax returns, foreign firms, art consultants. construction consultants, bill payers, home mgmt.,vast multitude of llc’s, including foreign, and with all that you only have a combined overhead of less tha[n] 3 million dollars.”

There was a similarly Howl-esque verbal screed in regard to the hiring of Larry Delson, an adjunct professor at N.Y.U., to potentially “take charge” of Elysium—a plan that was apparently nixed in favor of bringing on Wechsler. Through it all, Epstein evinced some of what seemed to be his special talent for manipulating the unfathomably rich—ostensibly detecting problems within their fortress balance sheets that he alone could solve, without always quite solving them. “No one was hired to run YOUR office until two months ago,” he wrote shortly after Wechsler joined Elysium. “[N]o one was even interviewed and even now, Brad, a very nice man, is not even full time, (crazy). Hours upon hours of time need to be spent training him and his new staff.”

In the same note, Epstein added, “In order to move forward I would ask that you realize that very unlike yours, [m]y business is only comprised of my personal attention and my personal time. Time that I was forced to grossly overspend on your various issues last year. . . As you are my very close friend[,] I will not have you participate in a bidding process that I have decided [I] will have this year for my time…I would also ask that you keep in mind that though our deal expired months ago…. [A]lso keeping in mind that your understanding of the final payment terms neither reflected the emails or my memory….[W]e finished it up your way.” He added that he had “answered every call” from the Elysium staff and reviewed many documents “over and over” until “I was forced to insert myself strongly as I thought it dangerous not to. I made serious dollar and time concessions last year[,] very serious. I am willing to continue to accommodate some of your concerns, but I am, under no circumstances, none, willing to spend my time for free.”

Epstein’s jeremiads were filled with a mix of anxiety over payments and notes of affection. “I have devoted a monumental amount of my limited amount of time -- way, way in excess of our agreement,” he wrote in 2015. “I will be fair. I am willing to roll in the amount still outstanding from last year if that helps. However, [a]s my best student, and my only one, you are now capable of doing most, if not all, of the required work yourself[.] I can put my whiteboard away when you come to eat and just have fun, trade stories, share moments[,] ideas etc.”

In a note from March 21, 2016, written at 4:17 a.m., Epstein started in with his usual recipe—concerns about his fees, Elysium’s challenges, and his perception of the staff’s incompetence—before getting down to The Ask: “Along with your ‘payment’ last year[,] we agreed no further obligations on each side. [Y]es, [I] continued to moan. I realize that though I’ve done quite a lot this year already. [I]t is not your responsibility[,] [a]s you often like to remind me -- you’ve paid a great deal of money to date. [T]hat being said - If you want my involvement moving fo[r]ward, I suggest you pay my regular fee of [$]40 m. [$]20 [million] now, [$]20 [million] on completion or as per the invoice issue[d] at the end of last year, pay [$]30 [million] all at once.”

So as not to sound unreasonable, he also offered Leon an alternative payment plan. “To help out,” he continued, “[I’m] keenly aware of your current cash position, so I will consider an in-kind payment—real estate (Miami), art, financing of my new plane (allows you to spread over years) or of course the preferred, cash.” Later: “Of course, re any non-financial issues,” he wrote, “I am always there for you and will continue to be the best friend I can be.”

Running through much of Epstein’s commentary was a theme—which is a bit hard to fathom, given how lucrative the relationship evidently was—that he wanted to “end, not extend” the financial artistry performed on Leon’s behalf. “You hired me to produce a work of art,” Epstein wrote. “[I]t was not inexpensive[.] [T]he value far exceeds any other piece in your collection -- by FAR.” (Leon, of course, has a nearly priceless art collection.) “It took me 30 years to be able to craft such a work,” Epstein continued, the metaphor growing ever more forced. “I understand your desire to modify my work, in doing so you have [B]rad telling me, [‘]just a bit more red here, let me show you[’.] [Y]ou yourself pick up a brush a[nd] add some strokes. [Y]ou have [J]oslin spray water on it to maintain it. I vigorously complain that [J]oslin i[s] ruining my work. . .you describe me as [Z]eus, [I] describe it as [being an] artist and a reaction to his work being ruined. [H]owever[, I’]m aware that you own the work and you have the right to paint over it[,] tear it up, put it in the closet in the basement.”

I’m not saying that every ersatz accountant or money manager must think and write like Flaubert, but Epstein’s correspondence with Leon doesn’t exactly conjure up the financial genius that he claimed to be. Rather, it reveals him to be little more than the Coney Island hustler who knew how to ingratiate himself into the lives of the very rich. On the other hand, the Wall Street hordes who have never understood the Epstein-Black relationship—not that I do, either—may have to note that this epistolary novel was entirely about estate planning, office foibles, and fee negotiations rather than anything, shall we say, more prurient.

Since there were no responses from Leon included in the House G.O.P.’s Epstein dump—we’ll see if anything turns up when the D.O.J. coughs up another tranche later this month, assuming there aren’t any delays—I had to ask Leon for his reaction to the emails myself. “Epstein’s emails were abusive and disrupted the family office,” Leon told me. “At a certain point, Epstein’s harassment and his relentless pursuit of more money crossed the line, and I ended the relationship. The latest release of emails further confirms the findings made in the independent Dechert Report.”

Need help? Review our FAQ page or contact us for assistance. For brand partnerships, email ads@puck.news.

You received this email because you signed up to receive emails from Puck, or as part of your Puck account associated with {{customer.email}}. To stop receiving this newsletter and/or manage all your email preferences, click here.

Puck is published by Heat Media LLC. 107 Greenwich St., New York, NY 10006