Politicians, celebrities and Wall Street titans: convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's circle was filled with some of the world's most powerful people.
This was no mere coincidence or stroke of luck.
Indeed, Epstein was a "wholesale collector of people, including people he didn't know," one Wall Street insider said amid growing speculation about the disgraced financier's "black book".
He also cultivated a level of privacy that means, even 20 years after allegations against him and his associates first surfaced, many questions remain unanswered.
Namely, which of the rich and powerful who were recorded as attending Epstein's parties, travelling on his private jet or publicly praising him were involved in the abuse for which he was convicted?
Now, fresh details from his 50th birthday book have given a further glimpse into how much Epstein's friends may have known about his true nature.
Here are some of the names believed to be in Epstein's orbit, and how they've responded to his criminal downfall.
Donald Trump
A key reason why Epstein's name is in the media again is due to the timeline of his friendship with the current US president.
It is understood Donald Trump was friends with Epstein for at least 15 years.
In a 2002 New York Magazine feature on Epstein, Mr Trump calls him a "terrific guy" and 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," Mr Trump told the magazine.
The pair were seen throughout the 90s frequently attending parties together and Mr Trump's name is also seen in Epstein's flight logs seven times — though none of these flights are to his private island, Little St James.
Little St James is one of Epstein's private Caribbean islands where he was alleged to have trafficked underage girls and welcomed a number of high-profile guests.
"I never went to his island, fortunately," Mr Trump told podcaster Lex Fridman in 2024.
"But a lot of people did."
After Epstein's 2019 arrest, Mr Trump said he had not spoken to him for 15 years due to a "falling out".
One of Epstein's key accusers, Virginia Giuffre, also says she was recruited by Epstein's co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell while working at Mar-a-Lago, Mr Trump's members-only club.
Ms Giuffre, aged 41, died by suicide at her Western Australia property earlier this year.
In July, Mr Trump revised the reason for the pair's falling-out, saying it was because Epstein "stole" young women from the club.
"When I heard about it, I told him, I said, 'Listen, we don't want you taking our people'," he told reporters.
"And then, not too long after that, he did it again. And I said, 'Out of here.'"
In late August, publicly released interviews with Maxwell said she had never seen Mr Trump in "any inappropriate setting in any way".
"The president was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects," she said, according to the transcript.
She added that she never heard Epstein or anyone else allude to Mr Trump as doing "anything inappropriate with masseuses".
Now, Mr Trump's name has once again appeared in Epstein's birthday book, contained in a letter in the shape of a naked woman.
The message reads: "We have certain things in common, Jeffrey," wishing that "every day be another wonderful secret" and adding: "Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?"
Mr Trump's signature appears at the bottom, in an apparent reference to pubic hair.
The Wall Street Journal had previously reported on the existence of the book and letter in July, prompting a defamation suit from Mr Trump.
The White House, and Mr Trump, have both denied the signature's authenticity and want to have the handwriting analysed.
Another image in the book shows Epstein standing among palm trees and holding an oversized cheque for $22,500 with a "Trump" signature on it.
Bill Clinton
Mr Trump isn't the only president who was seen to associate with Epstein.
Court documents in Ms Giuffre's case against Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell, unsealed in 2024, feature Mr Clinton's name several times.
Ms Giuffre claimed she had met Mr Clinton on one of the private Caribbean islands where Epstein was alleged to have sexually trafficked and assaulted underage girls.
She did not allege any wrongdoing by the former president, but her legal team repeatedly pushed for him to be subpoenaed to give testimony about his relationship with Epstein.
According to the records, one of Epstein's alleged victims, Johanna Sjoberg, testified that Epstein once told her Mr Clinton "likes them young, referring to girls".
In September, as Epstein's birthday book was released, a message from Mr Clinton was also released.
"It's reassuring isn't it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing … and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends," the former president wrote.
In the same article where Mr Trump called Epstein a "terrific guy", a spokesperson for Mr Clinton said he was thankful for Epstein's "insights and generosity" after the financier chartered a flight to Africa.
While flight logs from other lawsuits have shown Mr Clinton did travel on Epstein's jet, they do not mention a visit to Epstein's private island, Little St James.
His lawyers, a spokesman and a former FBI director have all stated he did not visit the island.
Mr Clinton's spokesman, Angel Ureña, said in a 2019 statement that he had "not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade".
"President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York," he said.
In her released August interviews, Maxwell said Mr Clinton was her friend and she never saw him receive a massage — nor did she believe he ever did.
The only times they were together, she said, were the two dozen or so times they travelled on Epstein's plane.
"That would've been the only time that I think that then-president Clinton could have even received a massage," Maxwell said.
"And he didn't, because I was there."
Prince Andrew
Prince Andrew, King Charles's brother, has repeatedly found himself drawn into Epstein's web.
Virginia Giuffre has publicly claimed that Epstein and associate Ghislaine Maxwell forced her to have sex with the Duke of York in 2001.
Prince Andrew has consistently and vigorously denied ever meeting Ms Giuffre.
In 2022, he settled a lawsuit brought by Ms Giuffre, which did not include an admission of guilt, and said he regretted his friendship with Epstein.
In August this year, Maxwell further denied the claims as "rubbish" and spoke glowingly of the prince.
In the released 2024 documents, Ms Sjoberg claims Prince Andrew also groped her in 2001 while she was visiting Maxwell's London home.
Buckingham Palace have said the allegations are "categorically untrue".
Peter Mandelson
Epstein's rumoured ties continue to dog influential figures across the globe.
The United Kingdom's ambassador to the US was fired by British PM Keir Starmer this week after the depth of his friendship was revealed.
Before his ambassador role, Lord Mandelson had served as a politician and minister in previous British Labour governments and as a so-called "spin doctor" for the party.
He is also considered the architect of former prime minister Tony Blair's landslide election win in 1997.
Lord Mandelson was quoted in Epstein's birthday book as referring to the disgraced financier as his "best pal".
It came a day after the British Telegraph newspaper revealed that, when Lord Mandelson was business secretary in 2010, Epstein had helped broker the 1 billion pound ($2 billion) sale of a UK taxpayer-owned banking business.
This was said to have taken place after Epstein first admitted child sex offences in 2008.
Leaked email correspondence dating from 2008 also suggested Mr Mandelson held doubts about Epstein's conviction.
"I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened," he wrote to Epstein, in emails seen by British media.
"Your friends stay with you and love you."
In response to the emails, Lord Mandelson told the BBC that he "relied on assurances of his innocence that turned out later to be horrendously false".
"His lawyers claimed that it was a shakedown of him, a criminal conspiracy. I foolishly relied on their word, which I regret to this day," he said.
Les Wexner
The billionaire founder of L Brands (which might be better known for owning Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works) is one of Epstein's only public financial clients.
Epstein's 51,000-square-foot Manhattan townhouse was bought from Mr Wexner, and the sex offender even served as trustee of the Wexner Foundation, according to reports.
Mr Wexner said he severed all ties with Epstein in 2007 after he "misappropriated vast sums of money" from Mr Wexner's family.
In 2020, an independent review found Epstein played "no meaningful role" in the budget, finances or accounting practices of the Wexner Foundation.
Mr Wexner also publicly told investors he was "embarrassed" by his ties to the disgraced financier and stepped down as L Brands CEO in 2020.
David Copperfield
Alleged victim Johanna Sjoberg said she met the magician through Epstein, although she did not allege any wrongdoing by Mr Copperfield.
A 2024 Guardian investigation alleged Mr Copperfield appeared to have met with Epstein at least three times.
In response, his lawyers said the magician "was not a friend of Jeffrey Epstein" and was unaware of his "horrific crimes".
Michael Jackson
Ms Sjoberg said she met the pop star through Epstein, although she did not allege any wrongdoing by Mr Jackson.
Asked whether she massaged Mr Jackson, Mr Sjoberg said: "I did not."
Mr Jackson's life was plagued by child sexual abuse allegations, though his estate continues to deny all allegations, as Mr Jackson did in his lifetime.
Robert F Kennedy Jr
The current US Secretary of Health and Human Services has been candid about his ties to Epstein.
He has said he went on Epstein's jet twice, with his family.
Mr Kennedy said, in 1993, he went to Florida with his wife and children to visit his mother over Easter.
A second time, he told Fox News in 2023, he used the plane to go "fossil hunting" in South Dakota.
"My wife had some kind of relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell and they offered us a ride to Palm Beach so I went then," he said.
He clarified he was "never on his jet alone".
"It was before anybody knew about Jeffrey Epstein's nefarious issues," he added.
The politician didn't elaborate how his first wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy, knew Maxwell.
Pictures have also shown the pair at a table together during a New York Academy of Art gala in 1994.
Jes Staley
Former Barclays CEO Jes Staley allegedly called his relationship with Epstein "profound".
Court documents unsealed in 2023 saw Mr Staley exchanged around 1,200 emails with Epstein between 2008 and 2012.
Epstein was a client of JPMorgan from about 2000 to 2013 where Mr Staley served in a number of senior roles.
A 2009 email Mr Staley allegedly wrote to Epstein, describes the depth of their friendship.
"I'm in the hot tub with a glass of white wine … I owe you much. And I deeply appreciate our friendship. I have few so profound."
Another email in 2010 sees the pair referring to Disney princesses.
"That was fun. Say hi to Snow White," Mr Staley emailed Epstein in July 2010, according to the filings.
"What character would you like next?" Epstein replied.
"Beauty and the Beast," Mr Staley allegedly responded.
Mr Staley was forced out of his Barclays position in 2021 after the UK financial regulator found he had failed to accurately disclose the nature and length of his relationship with Epstein.
Mr Staley has consistently denied knowing anything about Epstein's crimes.
He told a 2025 tribunal he had no idea about Epstein's "monstrous activities".
Jean-Luc Brunel
Modelling agent Jean-Luc Brunel was considered central to the French investigation into the alleged sexual exploitation of girls by Epstein.
Epstein travelled often to France and had apartments in Paris.
Virginia Giuffre alleged that Mr Brunel procured women, some of them minors, for sex with Epstein and other wealthy people, luring them with promises of modelling work.
In 2022, Mr Brunel was found hanged in his jail cell after he was arrested on suspicion of the rape of minors and trafficking of minors for sexual exploitation.
Mr Brunel had denied any wrongdoing.
His arrest was part of a French inquiry into sex trafficking and sexual assault allegations against Epstein, focusing on potential crimes committed against French victims and suspects who were French citizens.
Ehud Barak
The former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak visited Epstein dozens of times and accepted flights on his private jet while visiting his mansions in Florida and New York, a 2023 Wall Street Journal investigation into Epstein's schedule revealed.
Mr Barak told the publication he often visited Epstein when he travelled to New York.
He said he met interesting people at Epstein's townhouse, where they would discuss politics and other topics.
"In retrospect, [Epstein] seems to be a terrible version of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, but at the time seemed to be an intelligent person, socially well connected and of wide areas of interest, from science to geopolitics," Mr Barak responded to the story.
He said that he never participated in any parties or activities with girls or women.
A New York Times investigation also found Mr Barak and his wife, Nili Priel, penned a note, hailing Epstein as "A COLLECTOR OF PEOPLE" and that Epstein preserved a map of Israel drawn on a chalkboard with Mr Barak's signature.
Woody Allen
The famous director Woody Allen attended dozens of dinners with his wife, Soon-Yi Previn, at Epstein's mansion and invited Epstein to film screenings, according to that same WSJ story.
Mr Allen's spokeswoman told the publication the filmmaker went with his wife to group social events at Epstein's townhouse.
In a New York Times investigation, Mr Allen also penned a letter describing how the dinners at Epstein's home reminded him of Dracula's castle, "where Lugosi has three young female vampires who service the place."
Mr Allen has faced sexual abuse allegations from his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow — allegations he labelled "untrue and disgraceful".
Bill Gates
Epstein and Microsoft founder Bill Gates met several times, The New York Times reported in 2019.
The tech billionaire has said that he regretted his meetings with Epstein and called them "a mistake".
By the time the pair met, Epstein was already a registered sex offender.
Following her divorce from Gates, Melinda Gates revealed she had questioned the meetings.
"I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, no. I made that clear to him," she told CBS in 2022.
Mr Gates later said Melinda's instincts might have been "keener than mine".
"Any meeting I had with him could be viewed as almost condoning his evil behaviour. So, that was a mistake," he said.
A New York Times investigation also found Epstein framed a dollar bill signed by Bill Gates, possibly as payment of a bet.
"I was wrong!" the bill read.
Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker
While the pair were never accused of sexual misconduct, they are featured in a 2002 New York Magazine feature on Epstein.
Both celebrities are reported flying with Epstein and former president Bill Clinton to discuss HIV/AIDS policy with African leaders.
In July, Spacey asked for the Epstein files to be released.
"For those of us with nothing to fear, the truth can't come soon enough. I hate to make this about me — but the media already has," he wrote on X.
Noam Chomsky
The US intellectual reportedly had several meetings with Epstein while a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
A Wall St Journal report found that Epstein had met with Mr Chomsky in March 2015 — a meeting Mr Chomsky said was discussing neuroscience and other topics.
In 2018, Mr Chomsky also asked Epstein for help with a "technical matter" regarding the disbursement of common funds relating to his first marriage, the Journal reported.
He confirmed the transfer of approximately $270,000 from an account linked to Epstein, telling the publication it was "restricted to rearrangement of my own funds, and did not involve one penny from Epstein".
When asked about his relationship with Epstein, Mr Chomsky also replied in an email: "First response is that it is none of your business. Or anyone's. Second is that I knew him and we met occasionally."
Epstein donated at least $US850,000 to MIT between 2002 and 2017, according to the university's 2020 review.
In a 2020 interview with the "dunc tank" podcast, Mr Chomsky said that people he considered worse than Epstein had donated to MIT.
George Mitchell
Former Democratic Senate majority leader and primary architect in Ireland's 1998 Good Friday Agreement also went on the record as calling Epstein a "friend and a supporter".
In the 2002 New York Magazine piece, Mr Mitchell says Epstein had "supported some philanthropic projects of mine and organized a fund-raiser for me once".
Virginia Giuffre alleged Epstein told her to have sex with Mr Mitchell, according to court documents unsealed in 2019.
Mr Mitchell denied the allegation and said he had "never met, spoken with or had any contact with Ms Giuffre".
"In my contacts with Mr Epstein I never observed or suspected any inappropriate conduct with underage girls," he told Vanity Fair.
"I only learned of his actions when they were reported in the media related to his prosecution in Florida. We have had no further contact."
Epstein's pilot, Larry Visoski, also testified to having flown Mr Mitchell on Epstein's plane, but did not accuse him of wrongdoing.
Bill Richardson
Ms Giuffre similarly alleged Epstein told her to have sex with former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson.
Before his death last year, Mr Richardson denied ever meeting Ms Giuffre, and he was not charged with any crime.
Glenn Dubin
The hedge fund manager and billionaire was also referenced in Ms Giuffre's allegations.
She testified that "Ghislaine told me to go to Glenn Dubin and give him a massage, which means sex".
Mr Dubin denied all allegations.
The billionaire's wife Eva Andersson-Dubin also reportedly dated Epstein for years before she met Mr Dubin.
And according to Vanity Fair in 2019, the pair stayed in contact with Epstein after his conviction.
Mrs Andersson-Dubin also wrote an email to Epstein's probation officer, asserting that she was "100% comfortable with Jeffrey Epstein around my children", who were then all minors.
Epstein, a self-proclaimed "science philanthropist", also financially aided a number of lauded Nobel-winning scientists.
Similarly, Epstein would name-drop the likes of Alec Baldwin, Mick Jagger, and several Kennedys — though none were accused of misconduct related to him.
A new push from Trump supporters and Democrats alike to open the Epstein files could provide new answers about how the rich and powerful entangled themselves with Epstein.
There are hopes the documents will provide more names and more information about how the financier came to make his money.
While the Justice Department has been blocked by federal judges in its attempts to unseal grand jury transcripts, a House Committee attempt could prove more fruitful.
Already 33,000 pages have been released — albeit with mostly known information — with more promised to be "public as soon as possible".
