EPSTEIN’S $25 MILLION EMAIL
Kathy Ruemmler, Ariane de Rothschild, and the Edmond de Rothschild DOJ Settlement: A document-by-document analysis of the federal exhibit record
Sayer Ji
Emails produced in federal proceedings reveal that Jeffrey Epstein was paid $25 million to negotiate a Department of Justice settlement on behalf of Edmond de Rothschild bank, that he recruited former White House Counsel Kathy Ruemmler for the engagement, and that the relationship between all three parties continued for years after the deal closed. On February 13, 2026, Goldman Sachs confirmed Ruemmler’s departure as the bank’s General Counsel amid the fallout from these disclosures. But the coverage that forced her out focused on the personal relationship. The $25 million deal at the heart of it has received little or no mainstream reporting.
The Deal
On the night of December 10, 2015, Jeffrey Epstein sent an email to Ariane de Rothschild — the chairwoman of Edmond de Rothschild Group, one of Europe’s oldest private banking dynasties. The subject line was blank. The message was not.
“i think you will find that 45.5 penalty legal ( kathy plus pillsbury around 10. me 25 ) all less than 80 pretty good.” (EFTA00669908)
The email did not exist in isolation. Two months earlier, on October 5, 2015, Epstein’s company Southern Trust Company, Inc. had signed a formal Letter of Agreement with Ariane de Rothschild and Edmond de Rothschild Holding, S.A. (EFTA00584904). The contract explicitly stipulated a $25 million fee to STC “for Work specifically relating to outstanding matters between Edmond de Rothschild Holding, S.A. and the United States,” payable within three days of EDRH making payment to the U.S. government. The December 10 email was not Epstein characterizing an arrangement — it was him reporting the execution of one already contractually fixed.
In a single line, Epstein described what he characterized as the financial breakdown of a DOJ settlement. The Edmond de Rothschild bank had been under investigation for helping wealthy American clients evade taxes — part of a sweeping DOJ campaign that had already produced landmark penalties against Credit Suisse ($2.6 billion in 2014) and UBS ($780 million in 2009). Now, the Rothschild settlement was done. The breakdown, per Epstein’s own words:
$45.5 million — penalty paid to the Department of Justice
~$10 million — legal fees to Kathy Ruemmler and the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
$25 million — to Jeffrey Epstein
Total: under $80 million — which Epstein characterized as “pretty good”
The figures above reflect Epstein’s description in EFTA00669908. The exhibit does not independently verify payment execution, allocation mechanics, or regulatory approval.
Rothschild’s reply came hours later, at 1:55 AM Paris time:
“Yes, congratulations and a giant thk u !! I m relieved that it s settled and over. Now we can start moving fwd.”
And then, in a final message: “Yes … And deep thks for your amazing help.”
The exchange is documented in EFTA00669908, an exhibit produced in federal proceedings from Epstein’s estate. It is one of nearly twenty emails, flight records, and scheduling documents reviewed for this report that together reveal the full scope of Epstein’s role as a paid intermediary between the Rothschild banking family and the United States Department of Justice.
