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Jeffrey Epstein’s ghost is haunting the grand old men of capitalism

The taint of the disgraced financier will endure.

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The shadow cast by Jeffrey Epstein continues to grow over corporate titans and others as more details emerge from the US Department of Justice files.

The shadow cast by Jeffrey Epstein continues to grow over corporate titans and others as more details emerge from the US Department of Justice files.

PHOTO: REUTERS

The Economist

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When he was alive, Jeffrey Epstein relentlessly abused young women. Nowadays his ghost haunts a different group: the grand old men of global capitalism. Even before America’s Justice Department released a vast trove of documents on Jan 30, the Epstein affair had claimed enough

high-profile careers

to fill a private jet.

Mr Les Wexner, a retail magnate who employed Epstein as a financial adviser, was the first to go. He resigned from L Brands in 2020. The next year, Mr Jes Staley, boss of Barclays, a British bank, and Mr Leon Black, founder of Apollo, an investment firm, were dethroned. Some of the biggest names in commerce, from

Mr Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft

, to Mr Larry Summers, a former Treasury secretary, have been tarnished.

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