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Orioles owner David Rubenstein met with Jeffrey Epstein in 2012, according to files
David Rubenstein, a billionaire who has owned the Baltimore Orioles since 2024, met with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2012, Front Office Sports reported on Thursday.
While Rubenstein, also a founder of the Washington, D.C.-based private-equity firm The Carlyle Group, is named in the Epstein files, he's not accused of any wrongdoing.
Among the millions of emails released by the Department of Justice last month are exchanges between Rubenstein and Epstein. Those reveal that Rubenstein met with Epstein for dinner in November 2012, four years after Epstein pleaded guilty to a state charge of solicitation of prostitution with a minor.
"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 spokesperson for Rubenstein said in a statement provided tomultipleoutlets on Thursday.
"Nice meeting you finally," Epstein wrote in an email to Rubenstein on Nov. 12, 2012. Epstein and Rubenstein were reportedly introduced via email by Boris Nikolic, a physician once named as "successor executor" to Epstein's estate.
In that email, Epstein noted that Ehud Barak, a former prime minister of Israel, would be in Washington and asked whether Rubenstein would be interested in meeting with Barak to discuss the forecast for the economy following the election.
At the time, incumbent Barack Obama had just defeated Mitt Romney in the 2012 U.S. presidential election.
Rubenstein then responded, "Thanks very much. Enjoyed the chance to meet you as well."
Later in that same message, Rubenstein added: "I need to check my schedule tomorrow. I really like ehud and I am up to speed on what congress and wh are doing — though impact on the economy is still a bit of guess work."
Rubenstein's spokesperson addressed that back-and-forth in their statement.
"A brief email thanking Mr. Rubenstein for the meeting also suggested a meeting between Mr. Rubenstein and Ehud Barak, which never occurred," the spokesperson told multiple outlets.
"There is nothing more to Mr. Rubenstein’s involvement than that innocuous interaction."
That said, as reported by FOS, Epstein sent an email to Rubenstein two weeks later, and his reply suggested another meeting between them was in the works.
On Nov. 26, 2012, Epstein emailed Rubenstein a link to an article about Barak leaving politics. Less than two hours later, Rubenstein responded, "So no dinner this week?"
Epstein replied later that day, "dinner is a better idea now.. looking for interesting things to do."
Outside of Rubenstein's direct correspondence with Epstein, there's evidence of their connection in the files. FOS reported Thursday that, in July 2012, a "Sarah K" emailed Epstein a photo of a woman in a bathing suit, which Epstein forwarded to Nikolić and wrote "for david rubenstein."
The woman's face is redacted in the files.
Nikolić, who told The Wall Street Journal earlier this month that he "deeply" regrets associating with Epstein, responded back then to that email, "Thank you! HOT."
A spokesperson for Rubenstein said Rubenstein had never received or seen that email from Nikolić, per FOS.
Rubenstein and fellow private-equity billionaire Mike Arougheti spearheaded the purchase of the Orioles from the Angelos family in January 2024, reportedly acquiring ownership of the club at a price that valued the team at $1.725 billion.
Peter Angelos, who led the purchase of the Orioles in 1993, died at 94 in March 2024. Soon after, Rubenstein, a Baltimore native, officially took over as the franchise's control person.
