Billionaire Investor Buys Epstein’s Private Islands for $60 Million
A billionaire investor with ties to the U.S. Virgin Islands paid $60 million to buy Jeffrey Epstein’s island residences off the coast of St. Thomas — closing another chapter in the financial dealings of the disgraced financier who died by suicide in 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
The investor, Stephen Deckoff, paid roughly 50 percent less for the two private islands than the price that was listed last year by Mr. Epstein’s estate. A portion of the sale proceeds will go toward a $105 million settlement that Mr. Epstein’s estate reached last year with the government of the U.S. territory in the Caribbean.
Mr. Deckoff is the founder of Black Diamond Capital Management, an investment firm with $9 billion under management and offices in Stamford, Conn., London, Mumbai and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He acquired the islands through an investment vehicle called SD Investments.
Mr. Deckoff, in a news release, said he planned to build a 25-room resort on the islands. The news of the sale was first reported by Forbes. A lawyer for Mr. Epstein’s estate confirmed the sale but declined to comment further.
Source: The New York Times
