The American newspaper recounts "The untold story of how Jeffrey Epstein got rich," detailing his rise in the early 1980s. Around 1982, Epstein met Obregón, then a well-known actress and socialite in Spain. The New York magnate, who was casually dating the famous Spaniard, took her "speeding through Manhattan in a Rolls-Royce" on their first date. Ana Obregón herself, in her 2012 memoirs (This is me), described the billionaire as "the perfect man I never fell in love with," referring to him as a certain Jeff, her "guardian angel in New York."
The relationship with the Obregón family became crucial for Epstein's financial future. The Obregóns, along with other Spanish families, turned to him to recover investments they had lost following the bankruptcy of the investment firm Drysdale Securities. Epstein hired a former federal prosecutor, Bob Gold, to trace the money.
After a year-long search, they discovered that the funds were held in a branch in the Cayman Islands of a Canadian bank. For his work, "Epstein received a generous reward for finding the money." This substantial gain, combined with an alleged scam against the businessman Michael Stroll, "made him a millionaire," as described by the New York media. Stroll accused Epstein of absconding with $450,000 he had invested. The magnate was also accused of embezzlement by the British defense contractor Douglas Leese. Thus, the NYT confirms that the controversial wealth of the magnate, who died in 2019 awaiting trial for sex trafficking, is closely linked to the Spanish social elite.