Mark Epstein (property developer)
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Mark Lawrence Epstein, born July 14, 1954, and known by his nickname "Puggy," is an American property developer and the brother of financier and convicted child sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
Once an artist, Epstein has been a real estate investor since the 1990s. He held the position of president at his brother's investment company, J. Epstein & Co., and served as an executive for Ossa Properties. His entrepreneurial ventures extend to founding and leading real estate companies, a T-shirt printing business, a modeling agency, and a charter company. The source and extent of his wealth have drawn scrutiny from both Dow Jones Institutional News and The Wall Street Journal.
While he denies Jeffrey's involvement in blackmail, Mark has acknowledged his brother's admission to being involved with girls who were "too young." He maintains his own innocence in relation to Jeffrey's crimes, asserting he was cleared by investigators and only learned of his brother's illegal activities in 2006. Following Jeffrey Epstein's death in prison in 2019, after his conviction for child sex offenses, Mark publicly questioned the suicide ruling, stating, "it looks more like a homicide." He believes his brother possessed damaging information about powerful individuals, which made him a target.
Born in 1954 to Pauline and Seymour George Epstein, both Jewish, Mark and his brother grew up in Sea Gate, a private gated community in Coney Island, Brooklyn. Mark Epstein is a 1976 graduate of Cooper Union and also studied at Stony Brook University. In 2002, he was honored as Cooper Union's Alumnus of the Year.
His career path diverged from art to real estate investment in the 1990s. He led his brother's company, J. Epstein & Co., and was an executive at Ossa Properties. He founded and owns the T-shirt printing company Izmo, established in 1986, and headed Atelier Enterprises, a leasing and chartering firm. From 1987 to 2015, he owned and operated Epstein Acquisitions, and in 2005, he incorporated Saint Model and Talent.
The origins of Epstein's wealth have been described as mysterious by Dow Jones Institutional News and The Wall Street Journal, with Epstein declining to answer the Journal's inquiries. The newspaper noted his ownership of the luxury yacht Izmo, valued at $1 million, and a 16-story condominium acquired in the 1990s from Les Wexner, which carried a $7.24 million mortgage at the time.
Epstein has been a significant donor to Cooper Union, contributing six-figure sums, and chaired its governing board until 2015. He resigned amidst financial crisis and tuition protests at the institution. He donated his yacht to the Marine Science and Nautical Training Academy in Charleston and served on the board of directors for the Humpty Dumpty Institute, an international charity to which he loaned over $100,000 in 2014. He also provided $75,000 to Exit Art, a nonprofit cultural center where he was also a board director.
In his personal life, Mark Epstein has two children with Joyce Anderson, with whom he lived in SoHo for seven years before their relationship ended. He owns a home in Pennsylvania and property in West Palm Beach, Florida.
While denying Jeffrey's involvement in blackmail, Mark has acknowledged his brother's admission to being involved with girls who were "too young." He maintains he was not implicated in Jeffrey's crimes and asserts that investigators cleared him of any wrongdoing, stating he was unaware of his brother's illegal activities until 2006. After Jeffrey's death in prison in 2019, following his conviction on child sex offenses, Mark publicly expressed skepticism about the suicide, remarking, "it looks more like a homicide." He contends his brother possessed compromising information about influential figures, making him a target. Mark insisted the circumstances of Jeffrey's death were inconsistent with suicide and rejected the Department of Justice's findings. He recounted Jeffrey telling him he had "dirt on people" that "could put them in prison," and shared an anecdote from the 2016 presidential election where Jeffrey allegedly claimed revealing his knowledge would cancel the election. Mark alleged a government cover-up of Jeffrey's death, claiming federal authorities released doctored or incomplete evidence, including edited jail video footage. He criticized high-ranking officials for their handling of the investigation and urged authorities to reopen the inquiry into his brother's death, a request that went unanswered. Court documents identified him as Jeffrey's sole potential heir.
In 2024, Mark stated he was unaware of the reasons behind Jeffrey's estrangement from Donald Trump. He recalled Jeffrey saying on tape that he "stopped hanging out with Donald Trump when he realized Trump was a crook." In July 2025, Mark further elaborated on their close association, countering Trump's assertions of not being a fan and Steven Cheung's statement that the president was never in Epstein's office, especially after a victim recounted a "disturbing" encounter with Trump in Jeffrey's office in 1995.
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Mark Lawrence Epstein (born July 14, 1954), nicknamed "Puggy", is an American property developer and the brother of financier child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
A former artist, Epstein has been a real estate investor since the 1990s. He was the president of his brother's investment company, J. Epstein & Co, and an executive of Ossa Properties. He has founded and led real estate companies, a T-shirt printing business, a modeling agency, and a charter company. His wealth and its source have been the subject of investigation by both Dow Jones Institutional News and The Wall Street Journal.
While denying Jeffrey's involvement in blackmail, Mark has acknowledged that his brother admitted to being involved with girls who were "too young". He has not implicated himself in Jeffrey's crimes and maintains that he was cleared of any wrongdoing by investigators, later saying he knew nothing about Jeffrey's crimes until 2006. After his brother died in prison in 2019 following his conviction on child sex offenses, Mark publicly expressed doubt that the death was a suicide, saying, "it looks more like a homicide". He has said that his brother had damaging information about powerful people that made him a target.
== Early life and education ==
Mark Epstein was born in 1954 to Pauline "Paula" (née Stolofsky) and Seymour George Epstein, who were Jewish and married in 1952. He and his brother grew up in Sea Gate, a private gated community in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City.
Epstein is a 1976 graduate of Cooper Union. He also studied at Stony Brook University. In 2002, he was Cooper Union's Alumnus of the Year.
== Career ==
A former artist, Epstein has been a real-estate investor since the 1990s. He was the president of his brother's investment company, J. Epstein & Co, and an executive of Ossa Properties. He owns the T-shirt printing company Izmo, which he founded in 1986. He was also the head of Atelier Enterprises, a leasing and chartering company. From 1987 to 2015 he was the owner-operator of Epstein Acquisitions, and in 2005 he incorporated Saint Model and Talent.
Both Dow Jones Institutional News and The Wall Street Journal have called the source of Epstein's wealth mysterious. He refused to answer the Journal's questions about it. The newspaper noted his ownership of the $1 million luxury yacht Izmo and a 16-story condominium he bought from Les Wexner in the 1990s. The building had a mortgage of $7.24 million at the time.
Epstein is a six-figure donor to Cooper Union and was the chair of its governing board until 2015, when he resigned under pressure after the Cooper Union financial crisis and tuition protests. He donated his yacht to the Marine Science and Nautical Training Academy in Charleston. He also served on the board of directors of the Humpty Dumpty Institute, an international charity to which he loaned over $100,000 in 2014. He also loaned $75,000 to Exit Art, a nonprofit cultural center of which he was also a board director.
== Personal life ==
Epstein has two children with Joyce Anderson, whom he lived with in SoHo for seven years before their relationship ended. He has a home in Pennsylvania and property in West Palm Beach, Florida.
While denying Jeffrey's involvement in blackmail, Mark has acknowledged that his brother admitted to being involved with girls who were "too young". He has not implicated himself in Jeffrey's crimes and maintains that he was cleared of any wrongdoing by investigators. He has also said he never knew anything about his brother's crimes until 2006.
After Jeffrey died in prison in 2019 following his conviction on child sex offenses, Mark publicly expressed doubt that the death was a suicide, saying, "it looks more like a homicide". He has said his brother had damaging information about powerful people that made him a target. Mark insisted that the circumstances of Jeffrey's death were inconsistent with suicide and rejected the Department of Justice's findings. He said Jeffrey told him he had "dirt on people" that "could put them in prison", recounting an incident from the 2016 presidential election when Jeffrey allegedly claimed that if he revealed what he knew about the candidates, the election would be canceled. Mark alleged a government coverup of Jeffrey's death and said that federal authorities released doctored or incomplete evidence, including edited video from the jail. He criticized high-ranking officials for their statements and actions related to the investigation. Mark urged authorities to reopen the investigation into his brother's death and did not receive a response. He was identified by court papers as Jeffrey's only potential heir.
In 2024, Mark said he did not know why Jeffrey's friendship with Donald Trump ended. He said that Jeffrey had said on tape that he "stopped hanging out with Donald Trump when he realized Trump was a crook". In July 2025, Mark made further statements, emphasizing their closeness, rebutting Trump's assertions that he "was not a fan" of Jeffrey and Steven Cheung's statement that "the president was never in Epstein's office" after one of Jeffrey's victims mentioned having had a "disturbing" encounter with Trump in Jeffrey's office in 1995.
== References ==
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