It’s now been more than two years since Jeffrey Epstein’s death, yet the sheer mention of his name alone in connection to another person is enough for any former associate to call in for serious damage control. (See: Bill Gates and Prince Andrew.) Now Jes Staley—who, until this week, was CEO of Barclays—is the one in the hotseat.
As The Washington Post reported, Staley stepped down from his post as the head of one of England’s biggest banks on Monday following an investigation into his relationship with Epstein, a financier and alleged sex trafficker who was reportedly pals with some of the world’s richest and most powerful people—oh, and Donald Trump, too.
Though the details of what the investigation unearthed have not been made public, Staley must not have liked what he saw because he had apparently planned to contest them. What we do know is that Staley has asserted his relationship with Epstein was totally on the up-and-up and strictly professional. Staley also claimed that his dealings with the disgraced financier ended before he took up his post at Barclays. Bloomberg ran a thorough timeline of key moments in Staley and Epstein’s relationship, including the time—in April 2015—when Staley and his wife sailed their boat to Epstein’s private island (a detail that had not been previously disclosed).
According to a statement from Barclays:
Barclays and Mr. Jes Staley, Group Chief Executive, were made aware on Friday evening of the preliminary conclusions from the FCA and the PRA of their investigation into Mr. Staley’s characterization to Barclays of his relationship with the late Mr. Jeffrey Epstein and the subsequent description of that relationship in Barclays’ response to the FCA. In view of those conclusions, and Mr. Staley’s intention to contest them, the Board and Mr. Staley have agreed that he will step down from his role as Group Chief Executive and as a director of Barclays. It should be noted that the investigation makes no findings that Mr. Staley saw, or was aware of, any of Mr. Epstein’s alleged crimes, which was the central question underpinning Barclays’ support for Mr. Staley following the arrest of Mr. Epstein in the summer of 2019.
The Board is disappointed at this outcome… The regulatory process still has to run its full course and it is not appropriate for Barclays to comment further on the preliminary conclusions.
(Via The Washington Post)