Epstein advised against Aramco IPO to avoid ‘Wall Street demons’

Jeffrey Epstein counselled senior Saudi officials to abandon the initial public offering (IPO) of state oil giant Saudi Aramco, warning that a listing would expose the Kingdom to sovereign liability and intrusive audits.

According to analysis by The New Arab of emails released by the US Department of Justice, the disgraced financier maintained frequent communication with Saudi royal advisors regarding the country’s economic strategy from 2016. The correspondence coincided with Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s announcement of Vision 2030, a diversification programme centred on a partial flotation of Aramco, then valued by officials at $2tn.

In correspondence with royal advisors Raafat Al-Sabbagh and Aziza Al-Ahmadi, Epstein proposed alternatives to equity markets, such as establishing a new currency pegged to oil reserves. In August 2016, Epstein drafted correspondence describing a potential flotation as “taking a cow to slaughter,” cautioning that “shareholders are the last thing the kingdom needs.” Instead, he advocated leveraging oil assets for “land, knowledge and currencies.”

By late 2017, as London and New York vied to host the listing, Epstein directed advice explicitly to Mohammed bin Salman, by then the Crown Prince. In a letter drafted with Al-Ahmadi, he dismissed the IPO as “silly” and suggested a “shariah compliant” digital currency or selling options to China as superior alternatives.

“Having world wide shareholders, with rights to audit everything and everyone is, silly. Sorry for the bluntness,” Epstein wrote. “You have been treated as if you are only a large company. You are not. You are a sovereign with unique rights... you are playing into the hands of the Wall Street demons.”

Epstein’s scepticism focused heavily on legal exposure, specifically the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA). Passed by the US Congress in September 2016, the legislation allows foreign states to be sued in US courts for acts of terrorism, including the 11 September 2001 attacks. Epstein urged the Crown Prince to “amend the laws to protect yourself from JASTA,” noting that capital raising should be structured as debt rather than equity.

This legal jeopardy was a widely held concern in financial circles at the time. A senior New York hedge fund manager told NewsBase in 2017 that JASTA acted as a deterrent for a primary listing in New York. The source noted that a high-profile offering would “add fuel to an already smouldering political fire” regarding allegations of Saudi involvement in the 2001 attacks—claims Riyadh has consistently denied.