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Orioles owner and Carlyle Group chair David Rubenstein met with Jeffrey Epstein in November 2012, four years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor and registered as a sex offender.
Previously unreported emails between Epstein and Rubenstein show that the pair met at least once and planned to meet another time. The emails appear in millions of files released by the Department of Justice last month.
“Mr. Rubenstein had one meeting for 20 minutes in Carlyle’s office, at the request of people seeking Mr. Rubenstein’s participation in philanthropic endeavors, none of which were pursued by Mr. Rubenstein,” a spokesperson for Rubenstein told Front Office Sports.
In the summer of 2012, Boris Nikolic sent an email to Rubenstein and Epstein introducing the pair. “David, I mentioned you last time that it would be great if you and Jeffrey Epstein meet,” Nikolic wrote. “Jeffrey is one of my dearest friends.”
Nikolic was Bill Gates’s science advisor and a key figure in Epstein’s orbit who was once listed as an executor of Epstein’s estate. “Epstein was a master manipulator, and I deeply regret associating with him,” Nikolic told The Wall Street Journal last week.
‘So no dinner this week?’
The meeting between Epstein and Rubenstein took place later that year, and Nikolic and Epstein regularly messaged about Rubenstein.
“Nice meeting you finally,” Epstein wrote on Nov. 12, 2012, before mentioning the date former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak would be in the United States.
“Enjoyed the chance to meet you as well,” Rubenstein wrote back that day. “I really like ehud and I am up to speed on what congress and wh are doing–though impact on the economy is still a bit of guess work.”
Two weeks later, Epstein emailed Rubenstein an article about Barak quitting politics, with the subject line “change in landscape.”
Rubenstein ignored the article and responded, “So no dinner this week?”
“A brief email thanking Mr. Rubenstein for the meeting also suggested a meeting between Mr. Rubenstein and Ehud Barak, which never occurred,” the Rubenstein spokesperson told FOS. “There is nothing more to Mr. Rubenstein’s involvement than that innocuous interaction.”
Rubenstein earned billions as the founder of the private-equity firm Carlyle Group and bought the Orioles in a deal that valued the team at $1.7 billion in 2024.
‘For David Rubenstein’
Epstein and Nikolic were discussing Rubenstein well before the pair met in 2012.
In 2011, Epstein emailed Nikolic saying “david rubenstein is going to see.” A few emails later, they were discussing donations to the Kennedy School at Harvard, and Epstein said that “he wants GLENN to give,” referring to longtime Epstein associate Glenn Dubin. In August 2012, Epstein asked Nikolic for advice about calling Rubenstein for a coffee; Nikolic told him to wait.
In July 2012, a “Sarah K” emailed Epstein a photo of a woman in a bathing suit; her face is redacted in the files. Epstein forwarded the email to Nikolic and said “for david rubenstein.” Nikolic simply responded “Thank you! HOT.” A spokesperson for Rubenstein said that he had never received or saw that email from Nikolic.
The email address for “Sarah K” is redacted, but a woman named Sarah Kellen was closely associated with Epstein. Kellen has been accused of helping Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell traffic women and girls, and the judge in Maxwell’s criminal case called her “a criminally responsible participant” in Epstein’s crimes.
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