In February 2026, The Economist released a landmark data investigation that examined more than 1.4 million emails from Jeffrey Epstein’s personal archives, spanning roughly 2009 to 2019. The emails, now publicly available on the Jmail.world platform, offer an unprecedented view into Epstein’s communications during the final decade of his life.
The analysis shows that the vast majority of Epstein’s most frequent contacts were members of his inner operational team. Staff and service providers made up nearly three-fifths of all messages among the top 500 correspondents and accounted for about one-third of the names on that list. Leading this group were longtime assistant Lesley Groff, accountant Richard Kahn, and pilot Larry Visoski, who managed the demanding logistics of Epstein’s multiple luxury properties and extensive travel schedule.
When staff members are excluded, the data reveals a strikingly broad and elite external network. Among non-staff contacts, roughly one in four of the most frequent correspondents is prominent enough to have their own Wikipedia page. Finance represented the largest sector at 19 percent, followed by science and technology at 10 percent, with notable presence from law, business, and academia. Many individuals exchanged messages with Epstein on approximately 70 percent of days — the equivalent of five out of every seven days in a typical week.
Prominent names that appeared repeatedly include financier Jes Staley, media figure Peggy Siegal, Joi Ito, Ariane de Rothschild, former White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, scientist Boris Nikolic, billionaire Tom Pritzker, and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. The Economist’s team applied sophisticated standardization techniques to match variations in names and email addresses, mapped relationship strength and frequency, and developed an “alarm index” using a large language model to highlight potentially notable exchanges. The bulk of the correspondence, however, involved routine scheduling, business discussions, and networking.
Far from an isolated figure, the dataset portrays Epstein as a persistent and active connector operating at the highest levels of wealth and influence. As researchers continue to explore the full archive, this massive analysis is prompting renewed questions about how access, favors, and information flowed through elite circles in the years leading up to his death in 2019.
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