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It is known that Epstein's main way of operating was blackmail, and it is baffling to think of what kind of motivation he had to blackmail academics. Media repo
by nwah1 7y ago
It is known that Epstein's main way of operating was blackmail, and it is baffling to think of what kind of motivation he had to blackmail academics. Media reports that at least some of the academics were involved in the sex crimes.
I know he had an interest in transhumanism, but I still fail to understand the logic.
- adventured 7y agoA hook, go-between, for intelligence services - one in particular - that used Epstein and his blackmail ability as a means to get information from extremely powerful and high-up sources in politics, government, business and academia. One connection links to other connections, which links to other connections, making it possible to get to almost anyone and pull them into the blackmail web.
- joezydeco 7y agoHigh-profile academics have access to even more powerful people.
- roywiggins 7y agoHe thought he was smart, and wanted to have a collection of high-powered academics on hand to tell him how smart he was. It really could be as simple as that- he was a narcissist. Of course he'd want to be known as "billionaire philanthropist and renaissance man".
- smacktoward 7y agoReports are that he liked to throw dinners and parties with glittering attendee lists. I could see a guy like him wanting to have a few pet academics at such affairs, in the same way he'd want to have some artists -- partly just to liven up the conversations, and partly to signal that he's cultured and respectable. And of course there are always some academics (like Ito, it seems) who can serve as bridges into other worlds, by doing things like bringing him into investment opportunities.
- nappy-doo 7y agoI don't like promoting conspiracy theories. Now that that's out of the way, here's a doozy: https://jamesaltucher.com/blog/jeffrey-epstein-money/ https://jamesaltucher.com/blog/jeffrey-epstein-money/
- smacktoward 7y agoThere's an even more Occam's-Razor-compatible explanation for where his money came from than the "Club Epstein" one: it wasn't his money at all. It was money he stole from Leslie Wexner, who had mysteriously entrusted him with vast sums, and even gave him his power of attorney (!). See https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/7/10/20689134/jeffrey-epstein-les-wexner-l-brands-victoria-secret-limited https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/7/10/20689134/jeffrey-eps... for more details on the Epstein-Wexner relationship. Why exactly Wexner chose to put Epstein in a position to steal so much from him remains a mystery, but if you buy that Epstein was a blackmailer a reasonable assumption would be that he had something on Wexner and used it as leverage.
- nwah1 7y agoOr both are true simultaneously.
- smacktoward 7y agoYes, it's possible that he blackmailed Wexner, and then used Wexner's money to bootstrap the "Club Epstein" scenario. But if you're trying to lure people in so you can blackmail them, why would you bother charging them $20 million at the door? They can afford it, sure, but wouldn't that risk some of them saying no and thus denying you the opportunity to blackmail them?
- nwah1 7y agoI suspect that people would get suspicious if someone is offering them free sex parties. If there's a fee then it would probably be less suspicious.
- 7y ago