Mark Epstein (property developer)

Mark Lawrence Epstein (born July 14, 1954), nicknamed "Puggy",^[1] is an American property developer and the brother of financier child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Mark Epstein
Epstein in 2011
Born	Mark Lawrence Epstein (1954-07-14) July 14, 1954 (age 71) New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	Cooper Union Stony Brook University
Occupation	Property developer
Years active	c. 1990–present
Children	2
Relatives	Jeffrey Epstein (brother)

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.^[2] 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,^[3] saying, "it looks more like a homicide". He has said that his brother had damaging information about powerful people that made him a target.^[4]

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.^[5][6] He and his brother grew up in Sea Gate, a private gated community in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City.^[7]

Epstein is a 1976 graduate of Cooper Union.^[8] He also studied at Stony Brook University.^[9] In 2002, he was Cooper Union's Alumnus of the Year.^[9]

Career

A former artist,^[2] 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.^[8]

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.^[8][10] 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.^[8]

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.^[8] 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.^[2] He also loaned $75,000 to Exit Art, a nonprofit cultural center of which he was also a board director.^[2]

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.^[2]

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.^[11]

After Jeffrey died in prison in 2019 following his conviction on child sex offenses, Mark publicly expressed doubt that the death was a suicide,^[3] 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.^[4] He was identified by court papers as Jeffrey's only potential heir.^[12]

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".^[13] 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.^[11]