Mort Zuckerman

Billionaire media proprietor and real estate developer. Co-founder of Boston Properties, one of the largest office REITs in the United States. Former owner of the New York Daily News (purchased from Maxwell Newspapers Inc., the company of Robert Maxwell — father of Ghislaine Maxwell) and U.S. News & World Report. Appeared in Epstein's black book and maintained a close financial and social relationship with Epstein spanning over a decade. FINANCIAL ADVISORY: In 2008, Zuckerman sought Epstein's estate planning advice, sharing a copy of his will and an asset evaluation putting his net worth at $1.9 billion.

In 2013, Epstein drafted a proposal to provide "analysing, evaluating, planning and other services" for Zuckerman's estate, initially proposing a fee of $30 million, later revised to $21 million, through his Southern Trust entity. Whether Zuckerman signed or paid remains unclear from released files. Forbes (Feb 2026) identified Zuckerman as one of two newly revealed billionaire Epstein clients. MIT MEDIA LAB: In October 2014, Epstein emailed Zuckerman directly: "I would like you to consider a 10 million dollar gift to MIT media lab. They are doing great work."

Zuckerman replied citing existing charitable commitments. Epstein suggested he "make it a bequest." This solicitation was entirely absent from the 2020 MIT Goodwin Procter investigation report, making it a significant new revelation from the DOJ DataSet 9 release. MEDIA INFLUENCE: In October 2009, Epstein sent Zuckerman a draft response denying abuse allegations against himself and Ghislaine Maxwell. Zuckerman, as owner of the NY Daily News, replied that the paper was "doing major editing over huge objections."

The Daily News subsequently published a sanitized article in December 2009 describing Epstein reaching a settlement but making no mention of Maxwell or the specific allegations. This media influence was reported by Al Jazeera (Feb 2026) and investigated by The American Prospect (Feb 2026) in an article titled "Newspapers Did Not Kill Themselves." COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: In 2013, Zuckerman invited Epstein to two dinners with then-Columbia University president Lee Bollinger at Zuckerman's home. Zuckerman's $200 million gift had endowed the Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia (announced Dec 2012). In February 2026, Nobel laureate Richard Axel resigned as co-director of the Zuckerman Institute, citing his past association with Epstein as "a serious error in judgment."

MEDIA VENTURES: In 2003, Epstein, Zuckerman, Harvey Weinstein, and Michael Wolff jointly bid to purchase New York Magazine (bid unsuccessful). In 2004, Epstein and Zuckerman committed up to $25 million as equal partners in Radar magazine (folded 2008).