A billionaire investor has reportedly purchased Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious private islands in the Caribbean and plans to turn them into a luxury resort.
Forbes reported that Stephen Deckoff, founder of private equity firm Black Diamond Capital Management, bought the islands for $60 million — approximately half of their initial asking price.
Deckoff told the publication that he never met Epstein and had never been on the island until after Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in 2019.
Deckoff, who made the purchase through his investment firm SD Investments LLC, said in a press release that the plan is to build “a state-of-the-art, five-star, world-class luxury 25-room resort” on the two islands — 70-acre Little St. James and 160-acre Great St. James. He said that he is in the process of hiring architects and engineers to complete the job, which he aims to have completed in 2025.
The statement said the resort would “help bolster tourism, create jobs, and spur economic development in the region, while respecting and preserving the important environment of the islands.”
“I’ve been proud to call the U.S. Virgin Islands home for more than a decade and am tremendously pleased to be able to bring the area a world-class destination befitting its natural grace and beauty,” Deckoff said. “There is simply no place in the world as special as the U.S. Virgin Islands and I am humbled by the opportunity to share its splendor with visitors in a manner that will provide economic benefits to the region while respecting its culture, history and natural beauty. I very much look forward to working with the U.S. Virgin Islands to make this dream a reality.”