Ben Black, the head of a U.S. government investment agency with a newly expanded lending cap of $205 billion, had a series of personal and business ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that date back more than a decade, according to emails released by the Department of Justice and reviewed by The Guardian.
Records show Black invested in Environmental Solutions Worldwide (ESWW), a diesel emissions control company, in 2011 — the same year Epstein held a 6% stake in the entity through a Virgin Islands shell company. Black and his brother Joshua Black became directors of ESWW that year, company records show. Epstein sold his shares to the Black Family Partners, a partnership that manages part of Leon Black’s estate, in November 2012.
By 2013, Epstein had obtained Black’s contact information after a family estate planning meeting at which both men were present, according to a memo summarizing the meeting. “Leon said fine to set up meetings with Ben and Josh,” Leon Black’s assistant emailed Epstein’s assistant.
Epstein told a friend in an email that he flew to the Hamptons to celebrate Ben Black’s 30th birthday in July 2014. Lawyers for Leon Black initially said Epstein did not attend the birthday celebration. After reviewing the email, they said they were not aware of any email to Leon Black acknowledging attendance and that Black and his son have confirmed Epstein did not attend, adding that “it is very well known that Epstein was prone to exaggeration, lies, and embellishments.”
Two days after the birthday party, Epstein weighed in on Black’s plan to buy an $11.5 million townhouse, with emails showing the transaction was orchestrated to minimize tax exposure. Epstein told Leon Black’s executive assistant that if Ben had questions after the purchase, “he could call anytime.”
Correspondence shows a woman who identified herself as “Chik” in more than 100 emails sought Epstein’s advice on how to respond to text messages from Ben Black. At 9 a.m. on a March 2015 morning, Epstein received an email with the subject line “Ben Black”: “Last-night I had a great time with Ben and he kissed me! He was behaving like a real gentlemen!” Black family lawyers described Black’s interaction with the woman as a “single private date” between two consenting adults, adding that Black did not know that the woman would email Epstein.
Ben Black has not been accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein. A personal spokesperson for Black said: “Ben Black had no personal or professional relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.”
Black’s father, Leon Black, was Epstein’s highest-paying client, paying the disgraced financier $170 million for tax and estate-planning services, according to a Senate Finance Committee investigation. Epstein helped Leon Black orchestrate payments totaling about $20 million to women, the New York Times found. Three women have sued Leon Black for alleged sexual abuse; two of the suits have been dismissed and one remains pending. Leon Black has not been charged with any crimes in relation to the allegations. An independent inquiry commissioned by Apollo Management in 2021 found no evidence that Epstein ever introduced Leon Black to any underage women.
Donald Trump appointed Ben Black to lead the DFC in January 2025, weeks after Black co-authored an essay with Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale calling for a “pro-market” approach to foreign aid. The DFC, created with bipartisan support during Trump’s first term, was previously confined to investments in low-income countries. Congress recently cleared it to invest in high-income countries and tripled its lending cap to $205 billion.
Trump appointed at least three other men with known ties to Epstein, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who recently testified to a House oversight investigation and admitted he traveled to Epstein’s private island. Lutnick has not been accused of wrongdoing related to Epstein. He sits on the DFC’s board of directors alongside Black and six other presidentially appointed members.
Current and former DFC staff told The Guardian they questioned Black’s background when Trump first selected him. A former DFC director said: “He is not qualified to do this, for sure. It does make you wonder, you know — why is he in that role?” A White House spokesperson sent an unsolicited email to The Guardian defending Black’s fitness for the job. Leon Black’s lawyers said: “It is absurd to imply that Benjamin — who has law and business degrees from Harvard and a master’s in taxation from New York University School of Law — is somehow underqualified to run the DFC.”
After the Department of Justice released portions of Epstein’s correspondence in December 2025, DFC employees discovered records of Black in the files. One former staff member said chatter among staff largely stopped after they found the emails describing Black’s date. “Everybody’s just looking for jobs,” the person said.