From the working-class streets of Brooklyn’s Coney Island, where he grew up in a modest Jewish family with a groundskeeper father and homemaker mother, Jeffrey Epstein skyrocketed into the dazzling world of billionaires—private jets, lavish mansions, and friendships with presidents and princes.T

Jeffrey Edward Epstein was born on January 20, 1953, in Brooklyn, New York, to a working-class Jewish family. His father was a groundskeeper for the city parks department, and his mother a school aide. A bright but restless student, Epstein skipped two grades and entered Cooper Union in 1971, later transferring to NYU’s Courant Institute, though he never graduated. By his early 20s, he had abandoned college to pursue finance.

Epstein’s improbable ascent began in 1976 when he landed a teaching job at the elite Dalton School despite lacking a degree. There, he impressed parent and Bear Stearns executive Alan Greenberg, who hired him as a junior trader in 1976. Epstein quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a limited partner by 1980. He left Bear Stearns in 1981 amid controversy over insider trading allegations (which were never proven) and founded his own firm, initially consulting on asset recovery.

By the 1990s, Epstein had reinvented himself as a billionaire money manager catering exclusively to ultra-wealthy clients. His sole confirmed major client was Victoria’s Secret mogul Leslie Wexner, who granted him power of attorney over his fortune. Epstein acquired lavish properties: a Manhattan townhouse (one of the largest private residences in the city), a Palm Beach mansion, a New Mexico ranch, and two private Caribbean islands.

Behind this glittering facade, Epstein orchestrated a decades-long scheme of sexual abuse and trafficking of underage girls. Court documents and victim testimonies reveal he and associates, including Ghislaine Maxwell, recruited vulnerable teens—often from broken homes or modest backgrounds—with promises of modeling opportunities, education, or cash. Victims were coerced into sexual acts with Epstein and, prosecutors allege, his powerful guests.

Epstein’s 2008 Florida plea deal—widely criticized as lenient—resulted in just 13 months in a low-security facility. Federal charges in 2019 finally exposed the full scale of his operation. He died in custody on August 10, 2019, officially by suicide, before trial.

Epstein’s journey from Brooklyn classrooms to private jets embodies the American dream twisted into nightmare—proof that unchecked wealth and connections can enable profound evil.