U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has characterized his interactions with Jeffrey Epstein as “limited,” yet newly released documents reveal that their business relationship extended as recently as 2014.
According to the Epstein files, Lutnick and Epstein both signed a contract on December 28, 2012, to acquire shares in Adfin, a now-defunct advertising technology firm. Their signatures appear on adjacent pages, with Epstein representing his Southern Trust Company, Inc., while Lutnick signed on behalf of a limited liability company known as CVAFH I. The agreement lists a total of nine shareholders.
Previously the chairman of Cantor Fitzgerald, Lutnick once resided next door to Epstein. In an October interview with the New York Post, he stated that he and his wife, Allison, severed ties with Epstein in 2005 after a visit to Epstein’s New York townhouse, declaring, “I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again.”
However, email correspondence suggests that Lutnick and Epstein maintained contact. In 2011, they arranged calls and discussed getting together for drinks. The following year, Lutnick and his family planned a trip to Epstein’s private island, Little St. James. Emails indicate Lutnick was invited for lunch on December 24, 2012, and Epstein’s assistant later noted, “it was nice seeing you.”
The Adfin agreement was finalized just four days later. A source close to Lutnick clarified that Cantor Fitzgerald was a minor investor in Adfin, and at the time of the deal, Lutnick would not have been aware of the other investors involved.
On January 8, 2013, Epstein’s assistant sent Lutnick a document regarding casino legislation in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein had various business interests. Lutnick reportedly “ignored the document sent to him.”
In response to inquiries about Lutnick’s business dealings with Epstein, a Commerce Department spokesperson reiterated a previous statement regarding Lutnick’s planned visit to Epstein’s island in 2012. The spokesperson described the media’s focus on this issue as a misguided attempt to distract from the administration’s achievements, emphasizing that Lutnick had limited interactions with Epstein and has never faced allegations of wrongdoing.
The correspondence regarding Adfin continued through at least 2014, when shareholder David Mitchell reached out to Epstein about additional fundraising efforts involving Cantor Ventures, a venture capital arm of Cantor Fitzgerald, where Lutnick had served as president and CEO since 1991 and chairman since 1996.
In 1996, Epstein sold a property at 11 East 71st Street in New York to Comet Trust, which subsequently sold the property to Lutnick two years later, making it his primary residence adjacent to Epstein’s Manhattan mansion.
By the time Lutnick and Epstein entered into the Adfin agreement, more than four years had passed since Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges in Florida related to sex trafficking and solicitation. Further allegations of extensive sex trafficking surfaced, but it was not until 2019 that Epstein faced federal charges, shortly before his death in custody.
Following the release of the Epstein files, Lutnick has joined a multitude of prominent figures connected to Epstein who are now being pressed to clarify their relationships with him, which appear to be more extensive than previously disclosed.
Emails from 2017 indicate that Epstein recognized the potential public relations issues arising from his associations. He agreed to donate $50,000 towards a dinner honoring Lutnick, expressing concern about the optics in a message to billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson, one of the dinner’s organizers. Epstein opted not to reserve a table for himself, suggesting that Lutnick could fill the seats instead.
The connection persisted into 2018, when Lutnick emailed Epstein to express concerns about a neighboring expansion plan for the Frick Collection art museum, cautioning that the renovation could obstruct Epstein’s sunlight and views. “You should put in a letter. I’m sending a lawyer. Don’t ignore this,” Lutnick advised.
