A fresh batch of documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice has shed new light on the financial planning of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. The filings, made public this week, include several iterations of Epstein’s last will and testament.
These records indicate that at different points, Epstein intended to appoint two prominent figures—former Barclays CEO Jes Staley and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers—to oversee the administration of his estate upon his death. Staley is listed as a “successor executor” in a 2012 version of the will, a role that would have been activated only if primary executors were unable to serve. In later versions dated 2013 and 2014, he is named as a full executor. Summers appears as a successor executor in the 2014 document.
Neither individual is named in what appears to be the final version of the will from 2019. Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell in August of that year while awaiting trial on federal charges of sex trafficking minors.
The revelations are likely to prompt further scrutiny of the nature and extent of both men’s connections to the convicted sex offender. Staley was permanently banned from the UK’s financial industry last year after a regulatory investigation found he had deliberately minimized his relationship with Epstein. The probe was triggered by the discovery of over 1,200 emails exchanged between the two men.
For his part, Summers resigned from a teaching position at Harvard University late last year following earlier document releases that showed he maintained contact with Epstein into 2019.
During a recent tribunal hearing related to his industry ban, Staley was questioned about his potential role in Epstein’s affairs. According to court transcripts, he stated he had “declined it and refused to be a trustee” and later added, “I refused to be executor to his estate.” An executor is tasked with carrying out the instructions in a will, while a trustee manages and distributes assets held in a trust.
A spokesperson for Larry Summers said, “Mr. Summers had absolutely no knowledge that he was included in an early version of Epstein’s will and had no involvement in his financial matters or the administration of his estate.”
Staley resigned from his position at Barclays in 2021 after the regulatory findings became public.