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Which trusts, companies, or individuals now own Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan and Palm Beach properties?
Executive summary
Public reporting shows most of Jeffrey Epstein’s headline properties were sold after his 2019 death: his Manhattan townhouse at 9 East 71st Street (often called the Herbert N. Straus house) was reported sold in 2021 to Michael Daffey for about $51 million, and his Palm Beach oceanfront compound was sold and later demolished with the land resold (sale prices reported in coverage range from low‑ to mid‑tens of millions); Forbes and other outlets say the estate’s real‑estate portfolio was largely liquidated between 2021–2023 for roughly $160 million and proceeds were used for victim compensation and estate obligations [1] [2] [3].
1. What the major outlets say now owns the Upper East Side townhouse
Reporting identifies former Goldman Sachs executive Michael Daffey as the purchaser of Epstein’s seven‑story Upper East Side mansion; multiple summaries and profiles note a March 2021 sale for about $51 million and that proceeds went toward the Epstein victims’ compensation program [1] [4] [2]. Crain’s and Town & Country provide background on the complex chain of trusts that once held the property, but the 2021 buyer named in contemporary coverage is Michael Daffey [5] [6].
2. The Palm Beach property: sold, demolished, land resold — buyers not always public
Summaries of the Palm Beach estate say the beachfront compound was sold after Epstein’s death and subsequently demolished; reporting cites a later resale of the land for roughly $26 million in the context of liquidation and compensation efforts [3]. Detailed public‑record tracing is possible through Palm Beach County offices (Property Appraiser, Clerk), but the sources here emphasize the sale-and-demolition outcome rather than a single plainly named ultimate owner in all coverage [3] [7] [8]. The Independent and other local real‑estate reporting note a pattern in Palm Beach of confidential, LLC‑based purchases that obscure buyer names in some high‑end deals [9].
3. Estatewide accounting: who got the properties and where the money went
Forbes reported executors sold Epstein’s real estate between 2021 and 2023 for roughly $160 million and valued the estate overall at hundreds of millions, with much of the sales proceeds channelled into administration, creditors and victim compensation funds [2]. Finance‑oriented summaries likewise state that after sales and a large IRS refund the estate held substantial assets and allocated proceeds toward survivor compensation [3]. These accounts present a consistent picture: sales were completed and funds used in settlements and estate obligations [2] [3].
4. Trusts, LLCs and murky prior ownership — why names change on deeds
The ownership history of Epstein’s properties is complex: decades of deed transfers, trust names (Comet Trust, Nine East 71st Street Corp., Maple Inc.) and links to third parties like Leslie Wexner appear in New York reporting, pointing to deliberate structuring that obscured beneficial ownership at times; Crain’s and Town & Country map some of that history [5] [6]. These past structures explain why follow‑up reporting often cites trusts or corporate purchasers rather than individuals, and why some buyers later used loans from banks to finance purchases [4] [5].
5. What reporting does not (yet) say or leaves unclear
Available sources do not mention an exhaustive, single public registry listing each final buyer of every Epstein property; instead, coverage gives named buyers for marquee sales (e.g., Michael Daffey for the Manhattan home) while other transactions—especially in Palm Beach and private islands—are described in summary terms or via LLC filings and confidential deals [1] [2] [3] [9]. For definitive deed names and recorded grantees, county clerks and appraiser databases are the primary records [7] [8].
6. Competing viewpoints and motives in the coverage
Financial outlets (Forbes, Finance‑Monthly) focus on estate valuations and the allocation of sale proceeds toward compensation and creditor claims, while local real‑estate outlets and feature pieces (Town & Country, The New York Times photo piece) highlight the properties’ history and symbolism as sites of alleged crimes [2] [3] [6] [10]. Some reporting frames sales as necessary liquidation to compensate survivors; other pieces emphasize secrecy in buyer identities and lingering public interest in provenance and accountability [2] [9] [10].
7. How to confirm current ownership yourself
To verify precise, recorded owners for Palm Beach parcels, use the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser and Clerk of Court official‑records systems; New York City property records and deed searches (as used by Crain’s) serve the same role for Manhattan titles. The publicly cited summaries above are drawn from media reports that in turn rely on those official records or interviews with involved parties [7] [8] [5].
Limitations: this summary relies only on the supplied reporting and does not replace searching deed records or court filings for final, certified ownership details; available sources do not list every end‑buyer by name for all Epstein properties and sometimes reference LLCs or confidential purchasers instead [2] [9] [8].