Chair of the University of Chicago Board of Trustees David Rubenstein (J.D. ’73) met and directly corresponded with Jeffrey Epstein in 2012, according to emails released by the Department of Justice (DoJ).

Emails referring to Rubenstein date back to at least 2010, after Epstein had pled guilty in 2008 to charges that he had solicited prostitution from a minor. Epstein and Boris Nikolic, a former scientific advisor to Bill Gates, discussed plans for Epstein to meet with Rubenstein on several occasions. All but one were cancelled because of scheduling conflicts.

The documents reviewed by the Maroon do not indicate wrongdoing on Rubenstein’s part, and Rubenstein has not been named in any criminal or civil suits against Epstein and his associates.

The emails were among 3.5 million additional documents released by the DoJ in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act on January 30. View the documents related to Rubenstein reviewed by the Maroon here.

Rubenstein was elected chair of UChicago’s Board of Trustees in 2022 and has served as a University trustee since 2007. He is a co-founder and co-chairman of the Carlyle Group, a private equity and financial services company.

In response to questions from the Maroon about Rubenstein’s relationship with Epstein, a Rubenstein spokesperson wrote that “Mr. Rubenstein had one meeting for 20 minutes in Carlyle’s office, at the request of people seeking Mr. Rubenstein’s participation in philanthropic endeavors, none of which were pursued by Mr. Rubenstein.”

“A brief email thanking Mr. Rubenstein for the meeting also suggested a meeting between Mr. Rubenstein and Ehud Barak, which never occurred. There is nothing more to Mr. Rubenstein’s involvement than that innocuous interaction,” the statement concluded.

Following his 2008 conviction, Epstein served 13 months in a work-release program. He was later arrested in 2019 on charges of sex trafficking minors and died by apparent suicide while awaiting trial. Rubenstein’s spokesperson did not answer whether Rubenstein was aware of Epstein’s 2008 conviction prior to their meeting.

Nikolic, an associate of both Epstein and Rubenstein, repeatedly attempted to organize a meeting between the two. They successfully met in person in at least once in 2012.

Nikolic did not respond to a request for comment sent through his venture capital firm. He has not been charged with any crime related to his relationship with Epstein.

“[I] had a chat about you with david rubenstein with whom i had lunch yesterday. All good,” Nikolic wrote to Epstein on March 30, 2010. In July, Nikolic told Epstein, “Thnking of connecting david rubenstein with peter mendelson,” and asked Epstein for his opinion on the pairing.

“[I] think that they would like eachother. The caryle has a track record of hrng polticians (although this changed),” Nikolic wrote.

Peter Mandelson served as the United Kingdom’s ambassador to the U.S. from February to September 2025, when he was dismissed after documents released by the House Oversight Committee revealed the depth of his longtime connection to Epstein.

In an August 5, 2010 email, Epstein suggested that Mandelson meet Rubenstein—one day after Nikolic mentioned needing to discuss the pairing. Mandelson responded that he thought Epstein did not like Rubenstein. In response, Epstein asked for a phone number on which Mandelson could be reached. “i don;’t like  a forever record,” Epstein wrote.

In April 2011, Epstein told Nikolic that Rubenstein was “going to see. Glenn Dubin, father of my [redacted], god daughter.” Nikolic asked Epstein if there was anything he should tell Rubenstein, “[o]ther [than] to screw that a…… ;),” to which Epstein responded that Rubenstein wanted Dubin to give money to the Harvard Kennedy School.

Dubin’s daughter, Celina, remained in contact with Epstein—her godfather—long after his 2008 conviction. Epstein once told an associate that he would marry her, although no evidence suggests they had a romantic relationship.

In October 2011, Nikolic wrote to Epstein that he was “thinking of us having a late breakfast (or lunch) with David [Rubenstein] on Monday morning in DC.” Epstein proposed inviting Rubenstein to see them in New York instead, depending on the availability of a person named Regina, whom the Maroon was unable to identify.

In July 2012, Epstein forwarded an image to Nikolic with the message “for david rubenstein.” The content of the image is redacted in some versions of the conversation and was originally sent to Epstein by “Sarah K,” although it does not appear to be a photo of her.

One version of Epstein’s message reviewed by the Maroon includes a partially unredacted version of the image, which is of a female individual in a bathing suit on a beach. The person’s face remains redacted in this version.

Nikolic responded to the email, saying, “Thank you! HOT.”

It does not appear that Epstein and Rubenstein had corresponded directly at this point. The Rubenstein spokesperson denied that Rubenstein was aware of, or had ever received, the image.

The image’s original sender, “Sarah K,” is presumably Sarah Kellen, an unindicted co-conspirator in the original 2007 non-prosecution agreement against Epstein. The agreement required Epstein to plead guilty to state solicitation charges, register as a sex offender, and provide “victims with the means to obtain monetary damages.” In exchange, the U.S. Attorney’s Office would end its federal investigation of Epstein and his co-conspirators.

Kellen has since been described by one of her lawyers “as a victim of Epstein” who was “raped and abused weekly.” Kellen did not respond to a request for comment sent to the law firm that represents her.

Some sections of the documents released may be redacted if they contain identifying information of victims, child sexual abuse material, information that would jeopardize an ongoing investigation or prosecution, information deemed by executive order to be a threat to national defense or foreign policy, and content depicting death or abuse, according to the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

The Maroon did not attempt to identify the female individual in the partially unredacted image and flagged it to the Department of Justice as potentially having been published in error. At time of publication, the unredacted image was still available on the DoJ website.

Epstein, Nikolic and Rubenstein attempted to coordinate meetings at least five times between August and November 2012, according to the emails reviewed by the Maroon.

On August 21, Nikolic sent Rubenstein and Epstein an email introducing them to each other after previous attempts to schedule meetings were unsuccessful.

“David meet Jeffrey, Jeffrey meet David!” Nikolic wrote. “If meeting can work out, it is the best if you work it out directly! I think you will both like meeting each other.”

It appears that they only met once shortly before November 12, 2012, when Epstein wrote in an email to Rubenstein, “[N]ice meeting you finally.”

“Thanks very much. Enjoyed the chance to meet you as well,” Rubenstein replied.

An email chain from November 26, 2012 indicates the two had planned to have dinner with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak that week. Epstein sent Rubenstein an article in the New York Times reporting that Barak planned to “leave political life” in Israel, to which Rubenstein responded, “So no dinner this week?”

Epstein replied, “[D]inner is a better idea now.. looking for interesting things to do,” presumably referring to Barak. The trio was ultimately unable to meet due to scheduling complications, the emails show.

The emails reviewed by the Maroon do not indicate that the two attempted to meet again after November 2012, although it appears they were both invited to the same Vanity Fair party in December 2013.