Ariane de Rothschild, head of the Edmond de Rothschild family’s private Swiss bank, has now found a mention in recent documents released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in connection with financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
According to documents analyzed by Mint, Ariane de Rothschild corresponded several times with the late sex offender and agreed to several meetings over the approximately five years before his arrest and imprisonment in 2019.
While the documents released on January 30 appear to show no signs of criminal wrongdoing, they raise questions about the bank’s earlier description of the relationship, Reuters reported. In 2023, The Wall Street Journal reported that the bank said it met with Epstein as part of its regular duties.
The revelation of a previously unknown acquaintance between the two adds de Rothschild to a rapidly growing list of prominent figures who have been exposed in Epstein’s social circle after documents were released by the Justice Department under pressure from victims and members of Congress.
Rothschild correspondence with Epstein
According to the documents, Epstein and de Rothschild arranged several meetings over the years at Epstein’s homes in New York and Paris. The correspondence further indicates that he also invited de Rothschild to stay in his apartment.
In March 2019, almost four months before Epstein was arrested, he wrote to de Rothschild about his presence in Paris. She replied, “Are you for real?!! I’m here too. When will you be free?”
“It’s been a long, long time,” Epstein replied before they arranged to meet the following day. However, it cannot be determined whether the meeting took place or not.
Bank spokesman Edmond de Rothschild told Reuters that the late wealthy financier was de Rothschild’s business acquaintance between 2013 and 2019, adding that she was unaware of his behavior and “unequivocally condemns his behavior and the crimes he committed”.
The emails between the two mostly date from mid-to-late 2010. In the released documents, de Rothschild’s name appears 4,400 times, many of which were duplicate files.
Some e-mail exchanges between the two also took place with the help of assistants. In the 2016 exchange, Epstein’s assistant arranged for the hoverboard to be returned to de Rothschild’s daughter.
Who is Ariane de Rothschild?
Ariane de Rothschild, now 60, is a member of one of Europe’s most popular banking dynasties. From 1999 to 2023, she is the chief executive officer (CEO) of a Swiss private bank overseeing 184 billion Swiss francs ($236.8 billion) in assets.
She also became the first woman to head a Rothschild financial institution in a banking dynasty that dates back to 18th-century Frankfurt, Germany.
The case of Jeffrey Epstein
The late sex offender’s case stemmed in large part from a complaint filed in 2006 by the parents of a 14-year-old girl who accused him of molesting their daughter at his Florida residence. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to two felonies. Reports suggest that Epstein paid underage girls money to perform sexual acts and used Ghislaine Maxwell, his former girlfriend and associate who is serving a 20-year sentence, to control his victims.
Epstein was later arrested in 2019 on charges of trafficking girls, some as young as 14. He later died on 10 August 2019 in his cell while awaiting trial.
