Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein designated Ghislaine Maxwell as a beneficiary of $5 million (£3.6 million) from his estate, as disclosed in recently released documents on Friday. The revelation of Epstein’s bequest was part of a substantial document release by the US Department of Justice, consisting of over 3 million pages related to investigations and coverage of the convicted sex offender who passed away in 2019.
In a section titled “Bequests” within Epstein’s will, he outlined that if Maxwell outlived him, she would receive $5 million. Maxwell, who was imprisoned in 2022 for her involvement in trafficking minors for Epstein, was among nine individuals mentioned to inherit $5 million each upon Epstein’s demise.
The document also indicated that Karyna Shuliak, reportedly Epstein’s last girlfriend, was allocated $5 million. Additionally, Jean-Luc Brunel, an associate of Epstein who died in a Paris prison cell in 2022, and Epstein’s lawyer Darren Indyke were also identified as recipients of the same amount.
The release of this document is part of the 3 million pages made public in the afternoon, including 180,000 images and 2,000 videos. Notably, inclusion in the Epstein Files does not imply any wrongdoing.
The handling of the document release has sparked scrutiny towards members of the Donald Trump administration. While Trump and his campaign initially urged Democrats to release the Epstein Files before his reelection, Trump later opposed Republicans advocating for their disclosure during his second term, surprising many who supported him for the promise of transparency.
The documents were ultimately made public after a legal mandate, with only a small fraction released by late December, despite the government’s obligation to disclose them. Epstein met his demise in a New York City prison cell in 2019.