Are there any known associates that tie Gislaine Maxwell and Alexandria Cousteau including business and other known interests regarding Terramar and possible ties to United Nations and NGO groups?

Checked on February 5, 2026
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Executive summary

There is strong, well-documented evidence tying Ghislaine Maxwell to the TerraMar Project and to a string of public-facing engagements with United Nations forums and elite policy forums, but the reporting provided contains no documented link between Maxwell (or TerraMar) and Alexandria/Alexandra Cousteau—no shared boards, business filings, or co-appearances in the cited record [1] [2] [3] [4]. Allegations that TerraMar was a broadly networked NGO front for other actors exist in partisan and conspiratorial sources, but mainstream reporting characterizes TerraMar as Maxwell’s opaque, founder‑funded charity that engaged UN and philanthropic venues while showing limited programmatic output [5] [6] [7].

1. Ghislaine Maxwell founded TerraMar and used high‑level forums to promote it

Public records and contemporaneous coverage show Maxwell founded the TerraMar Project in 2012 and presented the organization at United Nations events and other policy fora; she accompanied Palau’s UN representative at an SDG press conference and spoke about mobilizing public awareness for the high seas [1] [2] [3]. TerraMar positioned itself as an ocean‑conservation nonprofit that sought to fold oceans into the Sustainable Development Goals and appeared at Clinton Global Initiative and Council on Foreign Relations events where Maxwell and TerraMar were showcased [4] [8] [5].

2. Funding and operations were concentrated around Maxwell personally, and critics flagged opacity

Tax filings and reporting indicate TerraMar ran largely on loans and donations from Maxwell herself, reporting large debts owed to her and minimal grantmaking; journalists and watchdogs described the charity as opaque, concentrated around Maxwell and founder funding rather than as a broad NGO network with demonstrable programmatic grants [4] [7] [9] [6]. The New York Times and Business Insider characterized the organization as having an opaque footprint despite visible participation at high‑profile events [5] [7].

3. TerraMar’s UN and NGO contacts were public but limited in scope and often ceremonial

Documentary evidence shows TerraMar made public appearances in UN contexts and partnered in some events with diplomatic figures such as Stuart Beck of Palau; UN press coverage and UN‑sourced video identify Maxwell as TerraMar’s founder at specific conferences, but fact‑checks caution that Maxwell did not speak to UN legislative bodies repeatedly as some social posts claimed—her interventions were episodic and tied to TerraMar’s advocacy appearances [2] [3] [10]. InfluenceWatch and other trackers list TerraMar as an ocean‑focused nonprofit that engaged international forums but emphasize its small scale and founder reliance [9].

4. Connections to Jeffrey Epstein and competing narratives about TerraMar’s purpose

Mainstream outlets document Maxwell’s long association with Jeffrey Epstein and note that TerraMar closed shortly after Epstein’s 2019 arrest; some commentators and investigative pieces have framed TerraMar as a “reputation cleanser” or questioned whether the charity served to burnish Maxwell’s public standing, while fringe sources amplify unverified claims tying TerraMar to a wider political network—claims not supported by the documentary tax, event, and reporting records provided here [6] [5] [11] [12]. Careful trackers distinguish between Maxwell’s conviction and the absence of criminal charges against the TerraMar entity itself in the cited reporting [12].

5. No documented ties between Ghislaine Maxwell/TerraMar and Alexandria/Alexandra Cousteau in provided reporting

The assembled sources extensively document Maxwell’s TerraMar role, UN appearances, funding patterns, and connections to Epstein, but none of the cited material identifies Alexandria or Alexandra Cousteau as an associate, board member, donor, co‑speaker, or partner of TerraMar or of Maxwell; the available public record in these sources therefore contains no substantiated institutional or business tie linking Maxwell and any Cousteau [4] [1] [2] [5]. If other documents or filings exist outside this set, they were not part of the supplied reporting and cannot be asserted here.

6. Bottom line and what remains unproven

Based on the documents and coverage provided, Maxwell is clearly the founder/operator of TerraMar and used UN and policy platforms to promote ocean‑conservation messaging, and TerraMar’s finances and activity centered on Maxwell’s funding and visibility [1] [7] [4]. However, there is no evidence in these sources of any associate or institutional tie that directly connects Ghislaine Maxwell or TerraMar with Alexandria/Alexandra Cousteau; claims to the contrary appear in unsourced or conspiratorial material and are not corroborated by mainstream reporting or filing evidence cited here [11] [12] [10]. Additional primary documents—board minutes, grant records, event rosters, or tax schedules beyond those summarized here—would be necessary to prove any undisclosed connection.

Want to dive deeper?
What public records list TerraMar Project board members and donors between 2012 and 2019?
Has Alexandra Cousteau (or Alexandria Cousteau) ever publicly collaborated with or commented on the TerraMar Project or Ghislaine Maxwell?
What do UN press records and event rosters show about participants at ocean‑related SDG events in 2013–2014?