All the famous men in Epstein files and their wildly different explanations

The release of the Epstein files has shone a spotlight on some very notable names – inclduing Peter Mandelson, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Stephen Hawkin, Bill Clinton, and Elon Musk

Jeffrey Epstein had a knack for surrounding himself with rich and powerful people. He cultivated connections with influential individuals and institutions across the spectrum, be it academia, politics, business, royalty or the world of entertainment.

And now those relations have come under the spotlight following the release of the Epstein files by the US Department of Justice. A number of high-profile names are included in the tranche of documents, emails and photographs. Being named or photographed in the files is not an indication of guilt.

We take a closer look at some of the notable people mentioned in the files, and exactly what they’ve said about their links to Epstein…

Peter Mandelson

Peter Mandleson is currently on police bail following his arrest last Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office. It is alleged that the politician passed market-sensitive government information that was of financial interest to Epstein in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The 72-year-old is facing a criminal investigation as a result of the US Justice Department’s latest release of material relating to convicted sex offender Epstein.

At the end of 2024, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US. His previous friendship with Epstein was public knowledge at the time – and it was a decision that would spectacularly backfire months later.

In September, the US Justice Department released copies of a book compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003, in which Mandelson had penned a handwritten note describing Epstein as “my best pal”. He was also pictured in a bathrobe sitting with Epstein.

It then emerged that he had sent a number of supportive messages to Epstein as he faced charges for child sex offences in 2008. “I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened,” Mandelson wrote.

In January, further emails shed light on the connection between the two men and appear to suggest that Epstein sent money to the ex-Labour minister, with documents indicating that Epstein made $75,000 (£55,000) of payments to accounts connected to Mandelson between 2003 and 2004.

Mandelson said he has no record or recollection of receiving the sums and does not know whether the documents are authentic. Another email suggests Epstein sent £10,000 to Mandelson’s partner, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, in 2009 to pay for an osteopathy course.

On 1 February, Mandelson resigned from the Labour party – and 24 hours later came another bombshell; emails released by the US emerged suggesting he forwarded market-sensitive government information to Epstein in 2009, when he was business secretary in Gordon Brown’s government.

One email exchange from 2009 allegedly shows Mandelson leaking detailed policy measures being considered by the cabinet in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Another suggests Mandelson tried to secure changes to a planned tax on bankers’ bonuses following conversations with Epstein.

On 15 December 2009, Epstein wrote: “[A]ny real chance of making the tax only on the cash portion of the bankers bonus.” “Trying hard to amend,” Mandelson allegedly replied: “Treasury digging in but I am on [the] case.”

Mandelson previously told the BBC that every UK and international bank was making the same argument about the impact on UK financial services. “My conversations in government at the time reflected the views of the sector as a whole, not a single individual,” he said.

Two days later, they appear to have further conversations on the subject. An email from Epstein asks if “jamie” should call then-Chancellor Alistair Darling “one more time”. (It’s thought to be a reference to Jamie Dimon, who was chief executive of US banking giant JP Morgan at the time. In response, Mandelson appears to have replied to Epstein saying he should call the chancellor again, before suggesting he should “mildly threaten” him.

Mandleson’s inclusion in the Epstein files isn’t limited to email exchanges. There are photographs, too. One image shows Mandelson standing in his underwear next to a woman whose face has been hidden. It is unclear when or where the images were taken, and the photograph itself does not suggest any wrongdoing. Mandelson told the BBC he “cannot place the location or the woman and I cannot think what the circumstances were”.

Mandelson was arrested on Monday afternoon and taken to Wandsworth police station in London for interview. He was at the police station for nine hours before being released on bail in the early hours of Tuesday.

A spokesperson for Mishcon De Reya, Mandelson’s lawyers, said: “Peter Mandelson was arrested yesterday despite an agreement with the police that he would attend an interview next month on a voluntary basis.

“The arrest was prompted by a baseless suggestion that he was planning to leave the country and take up permanent residence abroad. There is absolutely no truth whatsoever in any such suggestion.

“We have asked the MPS [ Metropolitan Police Service ] for the evidence relied upon to justify the arrest. Peter Mandelson’s overriding priority is to cooperate with the police investigation, as he has done throughout this process, and to clear his name.”

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor previously claimed to the BBC in 2019 that he cut Epstein off during a visit to the sex offender’s New York mansion in 2010. However, the Epstein files indicate that Andrew stayed in touch with the financier well beyond this point. On his 66th birthday, Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office and spent 11 hours in police custody.

Emails exchanged between an account that appears to belong to him and Epstein saw the financier sent confidential material relating to Andrew’s work as UK trade envoy. On Christmas Eve 2010, one of these emails included confidential investment opportunities about the reconstruction of Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Andrew was repeatedly pictured in the files, including some images that appeared to show him crouching on all fours over a young woman whose identity was redacted. He was also photographed lying across the laps of a group of women in the saloon at Sandringham, grinning broadly, whilst Ghislaine Maxwell stood in the background.

The King’s brother has not specifically responded to his inclusion in the Epstein files, but he has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing. In 2019 he admitted it was an “ill-judged association” but said he did not regret friendship itself explaining “the reason being is that the people that I met and the opportunities that I was given to learn either by him or because of him were actually very useful.” He stepped back from royal duties shortly afterwards amid public outcry.

On 17 October last year, Andrew said in a statement “I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life. With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”

President Donald Trump

US lawmakers have claimed that President Trump is named over one million times in the Epstein files. The pair did have a relationship in the 1990s that extended into the early 2000s, and Trump is mentioned many times in correspondence from Epstein. Trump claims he and Epstein fell out and stopped speaking in 2004 – before Epstein’s conviction for child sex crimes. Between 1993 and 1997 flight logs suggest that Trump travelled on Epstein’s private plane, nicknamed the ‘Lolita Express’.

In 2006, one document suggests that when the Palm Beach investigation into Epstein’s sexual abuse of minors began, Trump rang the investigators and said: “thank goodness you’re stopping him, everyone has known he’s been doing this.” The report also states that the now-President said Ghislaine Maxwell was “evil and to focus on her” and that Trump had seen teenagers around Epstein and he “got the hell out of there” in response to their presence.

Trump appears in some witness interviews, with one suggesting Ghislaine Maxwell offered a victim – who was then 22 – up to him, but “nothing happened”. Another claims to have been taken to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate to meet him, but again there was no suggestion of wrongdoing made by the witness.

Unverified tips in the documents levy accusations of sexual assault at Trump that were sent to an FBI tip line, but none of these come with further evidence. One of these included a claim that a teenage girl, aged 13 or 14, was forced to perform oral sex on him more than three decades ago.

In the complaint, the girl claimed she bit Trump while performing the sex act and was “allegedly hit in the face after she laughed” about it. A suggestive birthday note alleged to have been written by Trump in 2002 for Epstein was released by the Epstein estate, but Trump denies it is real.

Trump has said the release of the Epstein files has “totally exonerated” him and that he has been “absolved”. “I didn’t see it myself but I was told by some very important people that not only does it absolve me, it’s the opposite of what people were hoping, you know, the radical left,” he said after the release of one drop of files.

Epstein said to journalist Michael Wolff in 2017 and said that “I was Donald’s closest friend for 10 years” and in 2002 Trump called Epstein a “terrific guy” who liked women “on the younger side”.

Bill Gates

Unlike many others named in the Epstein files, Bill Gates has spoken in some depth about his connection to the disgraced financier.

In a meeting with staff from his non-profit organisation the Gates Foundation, the Microsoft co-founder said it was a “huge mistake to spend time with Epstein”. He added: “I apologise to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made,” according to a recording reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.

A spokesperson from the foundation also said in a statement: “Bill spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail.”

Gates had come under renewed scrutiny over his relationship with Epstein following the release of files by the DOJ in January. They included emails Epstein wrote to himself in which he claimed that Gates had contracted a sexually transmitted infection and requested antibiotics to surreptitiously give to his then-wife, Melinda.

Gates has denied the allegations and suggested that Epstein was trying to extort or defame him by writing the 2013 email. A spokesperson for Gates said: “These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false. The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein’s frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame.”

The files also contained images of Gates with women whose faces were redacted. He said during a staff meeting that Epstein had asked him to take the photos with his assistants. Gates told the foundation’s staff he met Epstein in 2011 – years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution – adding that he said he was aware of some “18-month thing” that had limited Epstein’s travel, but that he didn’t properly check his background, according to the report.

He continued to meet Epstein through 2014, and spent time with him abroad, he reportedly said, adding that he “never stayed overnight” or visited Epstein’s island.

The relationship continued even after his ex-wife expressed doubts, he is reported to have said, adding: “To give her credit, she was always kind of sceptical about the Epstein thing.”

He said he did not see Epstein again after 2014, although there were ‘ancillary issues’ that Epstein continued to email him about. Gates said he chose not to respond to them.

He said he had been drawn to Epstein initially because he “talked about the kind of intimate relationship he had with a lot of billionaires, particularly Wall Street billionaires” who he thought could help with his fundraising goals. He said those connections also “made it easier for me to feel like this was a normalised situation”.

The billionaire also admitted to two affairs. “I did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities,” he said.

Melinda Gates has spoken about the release of the Epstein files and told podcast host Rachel Martin that the scandal “brings back memories of some very, very painful times” in her marriage. The couple, who have three children, divorced in 2021 after 27 years together.

Stephen Hawking

Another high-profile individual included in the Epstein files is the late British physicist, Stephen Hawking. One image in particular shows Hawking looking relaxed and cheerful, holding what looks to be a cocktail. He is flanked on either side by two women wearing bikinis.

Hawking’s family has since spoken out about the image, to provide some context. The acclaimed scientist died in 2018, aged 76, having lived with motor neurone disease, which left him disabled for more than 50 years.

His loved ones have said that the photo was taken during a 2006 science symposium at the five-star Ritz-Carlton Hotel, St Thomas, where Stephen gave a speech on quantum cosmology. The conference was five months before the financier was charged with soliciting prostitution from a minor. They also said that the two women in the photo were his long-term carers from the UK.

Hawking was one of 21 scientists invited to visit St Thomas in the Virgin Islands as well as Epstein’s island, Little Saint James, as part of the Energy of Empty Space That Isn’t Zero event. According to the Telegraph, a blog post from the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation at the time stated that guests met to “discuss, relax on the beach, and take a trip to the nearby private island retreat of the science philanthropist Jeffrey Epstein, who funded the event”.

It’s not the only time Hawking has been seen in photos connected to Epstein. Previously surfaced images showed the professor attending a beachside barbecue during the trip. He was also given a specially arranged submarine tour of the seabed around Little Saint James. Epstein had reportedly modified the vessel to accommodate Hawking, who had never been underwater before.

Hawking’s name did previously surface in connection to allegations made by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre. Giuffre claimed the physicist had “participated in an underage orgy” on the island. Epstein vehemently denied the allegation.

In January 2026, emails released by the DoJ from the Epstein estate included a reference to the allegations. One email, written by Epstein, said: “You can issue a reward to any of Virginia’s friends, acquaintances, or family who come forward and help prove her allegations are false. The strongest is the Clinton dinner, and the new version in the Virgin Islands that Stephen Hawking participated in an underage orgy.”

Bill Clinton

Former president Bill Clinton’s interactions with Epstein can be traced from the early 1990s up until 2003. While Clinton was president, Epstein visited the White House at least 17 times, between 1993 and 1995. And once he left office, Clinton travelled on Epstein’s private jet on a number of occasions in 2002 and 2003.

Following Epstein’s arrest in July 2019 on federal charges of sex trafficking minors, Clinton’s office released a public statement, which confirmed the plane trips and acknowledged a meeting in Epstein’s New York apartment in 2002. But it asserted that Clinton did not know about Epstein’s crimes and that he had never visited Epstein’s island, New Mexico ranch, or his Palm Beach residence. It also stated that Clinton had not spoken to Epstein since approximately 2002–2003.

“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,” Clinton’s spokesman, Angel Ureña, said in a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter.

“In 2002 and 2003, President Clinton took a total of four trips on Jeffrey Epstein’s airplane: one to Europe, one to Asia, and two to Africa, which included stops in connection with the work of the Clinton Foundation,” the statement continues, noting that staff, foundation members, and Clinton’s Secret Service detail also travelled with the former President.

“He had one meeting with Epstein in his Harlem office in 2002, and around the same time made one brief visit to Epstein’s New York apartment with a staff member and his security detail,” the statement reads. “He’s not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade and has never been to Little St. James Island, Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico, or his residence in Florida.”

More recently, the former president appeared in photos contained within the Epstein files, including one showing Clinton swimming in a pool, and another showing him lying on his back with his hands behind his head in what appears to be a hot tub. Ureña, Clinton’s spokesman said at the time the photos were released in December that they were decades old and Clinton had stopped associating with Epstein before his crimes came to light.

Epstein victims, including Virginia Giuffre, have never accused Clinton of sexual misconduct or abuse in relation to his former ties to Epstein.

Elon Musk

Another high-profile name that pops up in the Epstein files is Elon Musk. Documents released by the DoJ included emails between Musk and Epstein in both 2012 and 2013 discussing a potential visit to Little St James. However, their messages don’t appear to have resulted in Musk visiting the island.

“Will be in the BVI/St Bart’s area over the holidays. Is there a good time to visit?” Musk asks in an email dated 13 December 2013. “any day 1st – 8th . play it by ear if you want. always space for you,” Epstein replies.

Over the course of follow-up emails, the pair appear to decide on 2 January as a date for the visit. But Epstein later says he is unable to attend. “Bad news- Unfortunately , my schedule will keep me in New York . I was really looking forward to finally spending some time together with just fun as the agenda. so i am very disappointed. Hopefully we can schedule another time in the near future,” Epstein wrote.

Another email dated November 2012 shows Epstein asking Musk “how many people will you be for the heli to island”. “Probably just Talulah and me. What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?” Musk replies, in an apparent reference to his ex wife Talulah Riley.

The following month, Musk responds to another email from Epstein inviting him to visit. “Do you have any parties planned? I’ve been working to the edge of sanity this year and so, once my kids head home after Christmas, I really want to hit the party scene in St Barts or elsewhere and let loose. The invitation is much appreciated, but a peaceful island experience is the opposite of what I’m looking for,” Musk wrote.

“Understood , I will see you on st Barth, the ratio on my island might make Talilah uncomfortable,” Epstein replied. “Ratio is not a problem for Talulah,” Musk said. On 2 January 2013, Musk then sent Epstein an email suggesting that the visit wouldn’t take place saying: “Logistics won’t work this time around.”

In response to the release of the Epstein files in January 2026, Musk has said: “I had very little correspondence with Epstein and declined repeated invitations to go to his island or fly on his ‘Lolita Express’, but was well aware that some email correspondence with him could be misinterpreted and used by detractors to smear my name.

“What matters is not [the] release of some subset of the Epstein files, but rather the prosecution of those who committed heinous crimes with Epstein,” he said, adding that, without arrests, “this is all performative” and “nothing but a distraction”.

When asked by Vanity Fair in 2019 whether he had introduced Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to Epstein, Musk responded: “I don’t recall introducing Epstein to anyone, as I don’t know the guy well enough to do so.”

“Epstein is obviously a creep,” he said, adding, “He tried repeatedly to get me to visit his island. I declined.” Musk has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.

Richard Branson

Virgin Group founder Richard Branson was a known Epstein acquaintance before the release of documents. But their connection came back under the spotlight as a result.

The tranche of Epstein files included an email exchange between the two men which took place on September 11, 2013, in which Branson warmly discusses meeting Epstein, offers some PR advice, and makes reference to Epstein’s ‘harem’.

The 2013 email exchange, which was initiated by Epstein, begins with him telling Branson: “Nice seeing you, thanks for your hospitality. I appreciate your public relations thoughts.”

Branson later replies: “It was really nice seeing you yesterday. The boys in Watersports can’t stop speaking about it! Any time you’re in the area would love to see you. As long as you bring your harem!”

Following the public release of the email, a spokesperson for the Virgin Group said that the word ‘harem’ was in reference to three adult members of Epstein’s team. They added that, had the full facts about Epstein’s past been known, Branson would not have used this term, nor would he have had any contact with Epstein.

Within the same email, Branson then offered public relations advice to Epstein, who by then had pleaded guilty to state charges of procuring a minor for prostitution.

He wrote: “I think if Bill Gates was willing to say that you’ve been a brilliant advisor to him, that you slipped up many years ago by sleeping with a 17 ½ year old woman and were punished for it, that you’ve more than learnt your lesson and have done nothing that’s against the law since and, yes, as a single man you seem to have a penchant for women. But there’s nothing wrong with that. Anyway something along those lines.”

The Virgin spokesperson said Epstein framed his legal troubles as having stemmed from a consensual relationship with someone who was nearly 18. If he had known the full facts, the spokesperson reiterated that Branson would never have become involved with Epstein.

Epstein kept a framed photo of Branson and himself at his New York City townhouse, and photos of the pair together were released in an earlier batch of the Epstein files.

A Virgin Group spokesperson has said: “Any contact Richard and Joan Branson had with Epstein took place on only a few occasions more than twelve years ago, and was limited to group or business settings, such as a charity tennis event.

“When Epstein offered a charity donation, the Bransons asked their team to carry out due diligence before accepting the donation, which uncovered serious allegations.

“As a result of what the due diligence uncovered, Virgin Unite did not take the donation and Richard and Joan decided not to meet or speak with Epstein again.

“Had they had the full picture and information, there would have been no contact whatsoever – Richard believes that Epstein’s actions were abhorrent and supports the right to justice for his many victims.”