A federal judge Wednesday denied a bid by former JPMorgan Chase executive Jes Staley to dismiss a complaint by the bank that seeks to hold him legally liable for sex trafficking by former JPMorgan customer Jeffrey Epstein.
The ruling in U.S. District Court in Manhattan came two days before JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is scheduled to be deposed in lawsuits by the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands and an Epstein accuser against the bank over its relationship with the late predator.
The Virgin Islands alleges in its suit filed in December that JPMorgan facilitated and financially benefited from the trafficking of young women by Epstein to his private island in the American territory to be sexually abused by him and others there.
Epstein was a client of the bank from 1998 until 2013.
In March, as part of its legal response to the Virgin Islands’ lawsuit and the similar one by the Jane Doe accuser, JPMorgan filed a so-called third-party complaint against Staley.
That action argues if the Virgin Islands proves its allegations, “Staley is solely liable to the USVI, or liable to JPMC for all sums awarded to the USVI and against JPMC, if any, at trial.” The suit also seeks to claw back more than $80 million in compensation Staley received from the bank, where he worked for three decades.
Staley, who had been a main point of contact at the bank for Epstein, last month asked Judge Jed Rakoff to toss out the complaint against him by JPMorgan.
Rakoff in a brief order denied Staley’s motion in full.
“An opinion explaining the reasoning behind this ruling will follow in due course,” the judge wrote.
Staley’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Staley has denied knowing about Epstein’s sex trafficking.
He served as CEO of Barclays from 2015 until late 2021, when he quit after British financial regulators investigated his ties to Epstein.
Epstein died from suicide in a Manhattan jail in August 2019, weeks after being arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges.
Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income, speaks during a Reuters investment summit in New York, November 7, 2019.
Lucas Jackson | Reuters
NEW YORK – When the bond chief of the world’s biggest asset manager looks at the U.S. right now, he sees a lot to like.
A combination of resilient government, corporate and consumer spending, improving homebuilder data, $1.5 trillion in excess savings and low unemployment tell BlackRock’s Rick Rieder that the American economy is faring better than many expected.
“I think the U.S. economy’s in much better shape than people give credit” for, Rieder said Tuesday at an event at BlackRock’s New York headquarters.
“There’s this thesis that you will have a dramatic slowdown,” he said. “When you break down the numbers, it’s just not apparent.”
Talk of an impending recession has been building as the impact of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate increases ripple through the economy. The collapse of three midsized banks this year have stoked concerns that lenders will rein in access to credit, further slowing down the economy. Still, employment figures have confounded expectations, most recently for April, when nonfarm payrolls jumped by 253,000.
“When people talk about, ‘We’re going to a recession or a deep recession,’ it’s pretty unusual [or] almost impossible when you have an unemployment rate of 3.4%,” Rieder said.
Rieder, a three-decade veteran of the markets who oversees $2.4 trillion in assets, said he expects the Fed to pause rate increases at its next meeting. While the central bank could raise rates once more after that, he said that its rate-hiking campaign is largely done.
That expectation, combined with slowing inflation, gives investors a good backdrop, even if he does expect the economy to slow later this year, Rieder said.
The biggest threat to Rieder’s thesis is a potential U.S. default on its sovereign debt, which could usher in panic and be “potentially catastrophic” for the economy, according to experts including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said that the U.S. could lose the ability to pay its bills as soon as June 1.
Rieder puts a “very high probability” of the Biden administration striking a deal with Republican lawmakers, he said.
“I’ve never seen so much money sitting in cash, and a lot of it” waiting for a debt ceiling resolution before being deployed, he said.
Albert Bryan Jr., governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, speaks during the SelectUSA Investment Summit in National Harbor, Maryland, on May 2, 2023.
Ting Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images
JPMorgan Chase in a court filing Tuesday called the U.S. Virgin Islands “complicit in the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein,” saying the sex predator gave high-ranking officials there money, advice and favors in exchange for looking the other way when he trafficked young women to be abused on his island getaway.
“For two decades, and for long after JPMC exited Epstein as a client, the entity that most directly failed to protect public safety and most actively facilitated and benefited from Epstein’s continued criminal activity was the plaintiff in this case — the USVI government itself,” the bank said in the Manhattan federal court filing.
“Rather than stop him, they helped him,” JPMorgan said, citing millions of dollars in tax incentives and other benefits the territory gave Epstein.
That claim comes as JPMorgan defends itself against a civil lawsuit by the Virgin Islands, which alleges that the bank knowingly enabled Epstein’s sex trafficking and benefited from it when he was a customer from 1998 through 2013.
A spokesman for theVirgin Islands’ attorney general’s office told CNBC on Tuesday, “JPMorgan Chase facilitated Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse, and should be held accountable for violating the law.”
“This is an obvious attempt to shift blame away from JPMorgan Chase, which had a legal responsibility to report the evidence in its possession of Epstein’s human trafficking, and failed to do so,” the spokesman said.
The bank’s filing Tuesday asked Judge Jed Rakoff to deny a motion by the Virgin Islands that would preclude JPMorgan from raising certain so-called affirmative defenses to the lawsuit.
“USVI’s motion seeks to strike only those specific defenses that threaten to expose its relationship with Epstein,” the filing said.
In a footnote, the filing said the Virgin Islands had three governors over the past 16 years: John de Jongh, Kenneth Mapp and current governor Albert Bryan Jr.
“As detailed herein, Epstein had close ties to each of them,” that footnote said.
Earlier Tuesday, another court filing for the first time revealed that Bryan is scheduled to be deposed June 6 for the lawsuit. A source familiar with the situation told CNBC that JPMorgan requested the deposition of Bryan, who has been governor since 2019.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is scheduled to be deposed in the suit Friday in New York.
Rakoff last week authorized the Virgin Islands to serve a subpoena for Tesla CEO Elon Musk on his electric car company, seeking documents that Musk may have showing any communications involving him, Epstein and JPMorgan.
That subpoena is based on suspicion by the territory that Epstein may have referred Musk or tried to refer him to the bank as a client.
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Epstein, a former friend of Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, maintained a home on a private island in the territory where he sexually abused many young women over the years. He used money from his JPMorgan accounts to pay women and fly them there.
In its filing Tuesday, JPMorgan noted that when Epstein was released from a Florida jail after pleading guilty to procuring a minor for sex, he tried to arrange for his parole to be transferred from that state to the Virgin Islands, where he registered as a sex offender. He also maintained his primary residence in the territory, which “put him under USVI law enforcement’s direct jurisdiction and supervision,” the filing said.
The bank alleges there was a “decades-long quid pro quo between Epstein and the USVI government” that took three forms.
“First, high-ranking USVI officials spent years courting and gladly accepting Epstein’s influence in the form of gifts, favors, and political donations,” the filing said.
“Second, in exchange, USVI granted Epstein preferential treatment in the form of more than $ [amount redacted] million in tax incentives, among other benefits. Third, and most troublingly, USVI protected Epstein, fostering the perfect conditions for Epstein’s criminal conduct to continue undetected.”
Specifically, the filing says Epstein supported the candidacy of Stacey Plaskett, the Virgin Islands delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, after she worked for the USVI Economic Development Authority, which awarded Epstein “massive tax benefits.” Plaskett had also worked at a law firm that represented him in business affairs, the filing says.
Epstein and his employees donated more than $30,000 to Plaskett’s congressional races, according to the bank.
The filing said that Epstein’s “primary conduit for spreading money and influence through” Virgin Islands government was then-first lady Cecile de Jongh, the wife of former Gov. de Jongh, who served from 2007 through 2015.
And “despite her public role and official duties, First Lady de Jongh managed Epstein’s USVI-based companies … receiving from Epstein a salary, bonuses and other benefits,” the filing said.
Jeffrey Epstein’s former home on the island of Little St. James in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Emily Michot | Miami Herald | Getty Images
Much of the details of the claims related to Cecile de Jongh are redacted in the filing, but in one section the bank says that in addition to working for his companies she “extensively lobbied on his behalf with government officials, including the governor.”
In another heavily redacted section, the filing says the Virgin Islands “aided Epstein’s criminal activity.” The specific allegations as to how the government did that is blacked out.
Almost completely redacted is a section of the filing entitled, “Epstein exerted influence over USVI sex offender legislation and received lax monitoring.” In one unredacted section, the bank’s lawyers wrote, “While the USVI did conduct site visits of Epstein’s residences, those inspections were cursory at best.”
“Despite the direct infusions of lucrative tax incentives, [redacted] and lax enforcement, Epstein still could not freely transport and exploit young women without assistance from USVI government officials,” the filing said.
“In exchange for Epstein’s cash and gifts, USVI made life easy for him,” the filing said. “The government mitigated any burdens from his sex offender status. And it made sure that no one asked too many questions about his transport and keeping of young girls on his island.”
The lawsuit against JPMorgan was filed in late December by then-Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George, who a month earlier had obtained a $105 million settlement from Epstein’s estate. Days after she filed that suit, Bryan fired George, who had been attorney general for four years.
The governor fired George reportedly because she failed to alert him that she planned to sue JPMorgan, which is the largest bank in the United States.
Despite George’s firing, the Virgin Islands has continued to aggressively pursue its litigation against the bank.
On Tuesday, there was another in a series of private telephone conferences with Rakoff over the case.
A public docket entry summarized the outcome of that conference, which included lawyers for the Virgin Islands, JPMorgan, former JPMorgan executive Jes Staley and an Epstein accuser who has a separate, similar lawsuit pending against the bank. JPMorgan is trying to shift any legal liability it may have in the suit to Staley, who was a point of contact for Epstein at the bank.
“The deposition of Albert Bryan, Jr. is ordered to proceed on June 6,” that docket entry says.
The entry also says that “all parties other than JP Morgan are ordered to contact former officers and directors of JP Morgan only through counsel.”
CNBC requested comment from lawyers for the Virgin Islands and from JPMorgan about the conference Tuesday.
Charges against Jeffrey Epstein were announced on July 8, 2019 in New York City. Epstein will be charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors.
Stephanie Keith | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Epstein, 66, died by suicide in a Manhattan jail in August 2019, a month after he was arrested and charged in Manhattan federal court with child sex trafficking.
Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to a Florida state charge of soliciting sex from an underage girl and was sentenced to 13 months in jail.
His prior criminal case and stint in jail, which were known to JPMorgan at the time, came in the middle of his tenure as a customer of the bank, where he maintained accounts from 1998 until the bank severed its relationship with him in 2013.
Epstein became a customer of Deutsche Bank after that.
Deutsche Bank last week agreed to settle a Manhattan federal court lawsuit filed by another Epstein accuser who alleged that bank enabled and benefited from his sex trafficking. Deutsche Bank will pay Epstein victims $75 million in that deal.
Deutsche Bank in 2020 agreed to pay a $150 million fine to New York’s financial regulator for its dealings with Epstein and other issues.
“We acknowledge our error onboarding Epstein in 2013, and the weaknesses in our processes, and have learnt from our mistakes and our shortcomings,” bank spokesman Dylan Riddle said last week.
Stocks kicked off the week with a jumbled session Monday, as investors work to get a grasp on the state of the economy and what could come next, especially with the debt ceiling negotiations (more on that below). The Nasdaq finished higher, giving the index its best close since August, while the Dow was down slightly and the S&P 500 was effectively flat. Tuesday brings a fresh slate of earnings for markets to pick over, including from retailers Lowe’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods before the bell. Follow live market updates.
U.S. President Joe Biden hosts debt limit talks with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 22, 2023.
Leah Millis | Reuters
We are a little over a week from when the United States could run out of money to pay its bills, and there’s still no deal in Washington. However, President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy both said after their meeting Monday evening that they’re cautiously optimistic they can agree on a way to address the debt limit as their sides also sort out a budget compromise. Tuesday and Wednesday will be especially important for a deal to come together. Lawmakers are also up against Memorial Day weekend in a few days, and Congress hates to miss a holiday.
In what’s sure to be a preview of cases to come, TikTok sued Montana to overturn the state’s ban on the app. Last week, Montana became the first state to ban TikTok, saying it posed a security risk due to its parent company, ByteDance, being Chinese-owned. “Yet the State cites nothing to support these allegations,” lawyers for ByteDance wrote. The lawyers argue that Montana’s law is unconstitutional, saying it violates the First Amendment’s freedom of speech while also preempting federal law. TikTok is facing heat from politicians on both sides of the aisle, in Washington and at the state level, as the popular app’s owners try to distance it from perceptions it’s controlled by the Chinese government. The Montana ban goes into effect Jan. 1.
An exterior view of a Lowe’s home improvement store. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. reports quarterly earnings on Tuesday, May 23, 2023.
Paul Weaver | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Home improvement chain Lowe’s lowered its revenue outlook for the year, as lumber prices have fallen and customers pared back spending on do-it-yourself projects. As we’ve seen from retail earnings so far, shoppers are spending less on things they don’t need while focusing more on necessities. Last week, Lowe’s rival Home Depot said its shoppers were spending less on renovation projects. Spring is typically the big season for hardware and home improvement stores, but it doesn’t appear that way this year. Lowe’s same-store sales for the period ended May 5 fell more than Wall Street expected, and the company lowered its same-store-sales expectations for the year.
JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon delivers a speech during the inauguration the new French headquarters of JP Morgan bank in Paris, France June 29, 2021.
Pool | Reuters
The CEO of the largest bank in America sees more trouble ahead for the financial system, thanks to commercial real estate. “There’s always an off-sides,” JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said during the company’s investor conference Monday. “The off-sides in this case will probably be real estate. It’ll be certain locations, certain office properties, certain construction loans. It could be very isolated; it won’t be every bank.” Dimon joins a growing chorus of business leaders and experts who say commercial real estate could be the next big problem for the financial industry after the recent regional bank crisis. Earlier this month, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger said commercial real estate is starting to see consequences from too many people borrowing at low rates.
– CNBC’s Alex Harring, Christina Wilkie, Melissa Repko, Jonathan Vanian and Hugh Son contributed to this report.
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A trader on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York during the opening bell on May 22, 2023.
Angela Weiss | Afp | Getty Images
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The S&P 500 broke 4,200 last week, its highest since last August. But it could be a case of panic buying and excessive optimism.
U.S. President Joe Biden met House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Monday evening to discuss the debt ceiling. No deal emerged — but McCarthy described the meeting as “productive,” and Biden expressed cautious optimism. Treasury Secretary Yellen warned in a new letter it was “highly likely” the U.S. could default on its debt by June 1. The word “highly” didn’t appear in her last letter.
JPMorgan Chase held its investor day Monday. At the event, we learned the bank aims to generate $84 billion in net interest income this year, $3 billion higher than its April forecast. CEO Jamie Dimon warned that souring commercial real estate loans could trigger another problem for banks, and that everyone should prepare for even higher interest rates.
Pasta prices in Italy jumped 16.5% in April — double the increase in consumer prices, which rose 8.1% year on year in the same month. The situation alarmed the pasta-loving nation so much that the country’s Minister of Economic Development Adolfo Urso convened an emergency meeting, while others called for a “pasta strike.”
PRO Regional bank stocks are being snapped up by insiders — the people who work within the banks themselves, according to a Raymond James analysis. This suggests confidence in the sector, despite the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF being 32% lower year to date.
The S&P 500 broke 4,200 last week, its highest since last August. But that’s not necessarily something to celebrate.
Investors are “panic buying,” Morgan Stanley equity strategist Mike Wilson said in a Monday note to clients. “We believe this rally will prove to be a head fake like last summer’s.”
UBS echoed that sentiment, saying markets aren’t pricing in tighter credit conditions and slower economic growth. There’s a “better risk-reward” to be found in bonds and emerging-market stocks, wrote UBS’ Vincent Heaney.
And the direst warning of all: Investors are “braced for Armageddon,” according to Stephen Suttmeier, technical research strategist at Bank of America. Suttmeier cites investors being underexposed to stocks, and funds being “aggressively short.”
Yesterday the S&P was virtually unchanged. While that doesn’t suggest an impending apocalyptic scenario, it does add credence to the theory markets are not entering a sustained rally but reacting haphazardly to day-to-day events.
Meanwhile, yesterday the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.5%, bringing it to its highest close since August as well.
Economic data to watch this week will be the personal consumption expenditures index, due on Friday. It’s the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation because the PCE tracks how consumers are spending their money, and not just the degree of change in consumer prices.
Past PCE reports didn’t move markets much, but the latest might. As UBS notes, markets aren’t pricing in adverse conditions — and that would include a long pause, or even a hike, on interest rates this year. But if the PCE shows inflation is still high, the Fed is likely to take action along those lines, which would thwart markets’ hopes for a rate cut. Stock would fall. It’s not quite Armageddon, but it’d be wise to brace for inflation — and rates — to stay high.
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A trader on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York during the opening bell on May 22, 2023.
Angela Weiss | Afp | Getty Images
This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.
The S&P 500 broke 4,200 last week, its highest since last August. But it could be a case of panic buying and excessive optimism.
U.S. President Joe Biden met House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Monday evening to discuss the debt ceiling — details on their meeting are still forthcoming, but both expressed cautious optimism on reaching a deal. Treasury Secretary Yellen warned in a new letter it was “highly likely” the U.S. could default on its debt by June 1. The word “highly” didn’t appear in her last letter.
JPMorgan Chase held its investor day Monday. At the event, we learned the bank aims to generate $84 billion in net interest income this year, $3 billion higher than its April forecast. CEO Jamie Dimon warned that souring commercial real estate loans could trigger another problem for banks, and that everyone should prepare for even higher interest rates.
Indeed, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari raised the possibility the central bank might increase interest rates in July, even if it keeps rates unchanged in June. “It may be that we have to go north of 6% [on the fed funds rate]”, Kashkari said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Meta was fined a record 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) by European privacy regulators for transferring data on European Facebook users to the United States, in what could be a landmark decision on data privacy. Meta said it will appeal the decision.
PRO Regional bank stocks are being snapped up by insiders — the people who work within the banks themselves, according to a Raymond James analysis. This suggests confidence in the sector, despite the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF being 32% lower year to date.
The S&P 500 broke 4,200 last week, its highest since last August. But that’s not necessarily something to celebrate.
Investors are “panic buying,” Morgan Stanley equity strategist Mike Wilson said in a Monday note to clients. “We believe this rally will prove to be a head fake like last summer’s.”
UBS echoed that sentiment, saying markets aren’t pricing in tighter credit conditions and slower economic growth. There’s a “better risk-reward” to be found in bonds and emerging-market stocks, wrote UBS’ Vincent Heaney.
And the direst warning of all: Investors are “braced for Armageddon,” according to Stephen Suttmeier, technical research strategist at Bank of America. Suttmeier cites investors being underexposed to stocks, and funds being “aggressively short.”
Yesterday the S&P was virtually unchanged. While that doesn’t suggest an impending apocalyptic scenario, it does add credence to the theory markets are not entering a sustained rally but reacting haphazardly to day-to-day events.
Meanwhile, yesterday the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.5%, bringing it to its highest close since August as well.
Economic data to watch this week will be the personal consumption expenditures index, due on Friday. It’s the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation because the PCE tracks how consumers are spending their money, and not just the degree of change in consumer prices.
Past PCE reports didn’t move markets much, but the latest might. As UBS notes, markets aren’t pricing in adverse conditions — and that would include a long pause, or even a hike, on interest rates this year. But if the PCE shows inflation is still high, the Fed is likely to take action along those lines, which would thwart markets’ hopes for a rate cut. Stock would fall. It’s not quite Armageddon, but it’d be wise to brace for inflation — and rates — to stay high.
Subscribe here to get this report sent directly to your inbox each morning before markets open.
Jamie Dimon, CEO, JP Morgan Chase, during a Jim Cramer interview, Feb. 23, 2023.
CNBC
Deposit runs have led to the collapse of three U.S. banks this year, but another concern is building on the horizon.
Commercial real estate is the area most likely to cause problems for lenders, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told analysts Monday.
“There’s always an off-sides,” Dimon said in a question-and-answer session during his bank’s investor conference. “The off-sides in this case will probably be real estate. It’ll be certain locations, certain office properties, certain construction loans. It could be very isolated; it won’t be every bank.”
U.S. banks have experienced historically low loan defaults over the last few years due to low interest rates and the flood of stimulus money unleashed during the Covid-19 pandemic. But the Federal Reserve has hiked rates to fight inflation, which has changed the landscape. Commercial buildings in some markets, including tech-centric San Francisco, may take a hit as remote workers are reluctant to return to offices.
“There will be a credit cycle. My view is it will be very normal” with the exception of real estate, Dimon said.
For example, if unemployment rises sharply, credit card losses might surge to 6% or 7%, Dimon said. But that will still be lower than the 10% experienced during the 2008 crisis, he added.
Separately, Dimon said banks — especially the smaller ones most affected by the industry’s recent turmoil — need to plan for interest rates to rise far higher than most expect.
“I think everyone should be prepared for rates going higher from here,” up to 6% or 7%,Dimon said.
The Fed concluded last month mismanagement of interest-rate risks contributed to the failure of Silicon Valley Bank earlier this year.
The industry is already building capital for potential losses and regulation by reining in its lending activity, he said.
“You’re already seeing credit tighten up because the easiest way for a bank to retain capital is not to make the next loan,” he said.
Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co., during a Bloomberg Television interview at the JPMorgan Global High Yield and Leveraged Finance Conference in Miami, Florida, US, on Monday, March 6, 2023.
Marco Bello | Bloomberg | Getty Images
JPMorgan Chase raised a key performance target on the heels of its government-brokered takeover of First Republic earlier this month.
The bank will generate about $84 billion in net interest income this year, the New York-based bank said Monday in slides for an all-day investor presentation.
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That’s $3 billion higher than guidance given in April. At the time, JPMorgan raised its net interest income outlook by $7 billion, a move that spurred JPMorgan’s biggest earnings-day stock bump in 20 years.
The bank added that “sources of uncertainty” around deposits and the economy could impact its forecast. Net interest income is the difference between what banks earn from loans and investments and what they pay to depositors.
JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, has emerged as a beneficiary of the recent regional banking tumult. It was one of the only banks to see deposits climb in the first quarter as panicked customers sought safety at big institutions; then it won a weekend auction for First Republic, a move expected to boost earnings and advance its push for wealthy clients.
The bank on Monday also disclosed expectations that expenses would rise to $84.5 billion, unchanged from previous guidance, excluding $3.5 billion in costs to integrate First Republic.
Longtime JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is expected to speak in a question-and-answer session at the investor day this afternoon.
He will likely be asked about the U.S. debt ceiling negotiations, as well as succession planning after rival CEO James Gorman of Morgan Stanley last week announced plans to step down within a year.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
Gerard Cassidy, RBC Capital Markets managing director, joins ‘Squawk Box’ to preview JPMorgan’s annual investor day conference, the banking crisis, and more.
UnitedHealth Group has the highest price per share of any company on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and it’s the tenth heaviest-weighted stock on the S&P 500.
In fact, not only is UnitedHealth the biggest health-care conglomerate in the United States based on market cap and revenue, it’s even bigger than JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s largest bank.
And it is a Wall Street darling, with experts optimistic about the company’s future: 22 of 25 analysts currently label it a buy.
“If I had to pick one stock, only one stock to buy, I’d buy United[Health],” said Ana Gupte, principal at AG Health Advisors.
UnitedHealth “has had superior stock performance over everybody else for two reasons,” said Lance Wilkes, managing director and senior research analyst at Bernstein Research. “One would be strategic vision and the other is strategic capital management.”
UnitedHealth has increased its annual revenue since 2012 by more than $100 billion, when adjusted for inflation. It achieved this by engaging in a unique acquisition strategy. It started with smaller deals that have grown while many of UnitedHealth’s competitors such as Aetna and Humana or Anthem and Cigna tried to broker much larger ones, only to be stopped by regulators.
Conversely, UnitedHealth leaned into a vertical-integration strategy, buying up smaller companies and building them into its growing health-care business.
UnitedHealth’s size makes it “relatively immune to economic cycles” due to the company’s wide diversity, Gupte said. “It makes it very attractive from an economic cycle and a macro environment perspective.”
Until recently, its acquisition strategy allowed it to grow without catching too much scrutiny from regulators. But in January 2021, UnitedHealth and Change Healthcare announced a nearly $8 billion all-cash deal that was challenged by the Department of Justice due to antitrust concerns.
Health-care companies “are becoming more and more [like] utilities,” Wilkes said. “Consequently, I think they’re going to have very large market shares because … you wouldn’t want redundant services through the system.”
“I think at this point you we would consider UnitedHealth Group just kind of like … core health infrastructure at this point in America,” said Matt Stoller, director of research at the American Economic Liberties Project and author of “Goliath: The Hundred Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy.” “It’s too big to manage.”
“UnitedHealth Group is committed to improving the health system for everyone, advancing evidence-based practice and aligning incentives across the system to ensure people get the right care at the right time in the right place,” UnitedHealth Group told CNBC.
“Because we serve people throughout every aspect of the health system, we have a unique ability to identify opportunities to better integrate care and benefits, develop solutions and deploy them at scale to improve access, lower costs and make the experience better for patients and providers,” it said.
Watch the video above to learn how UnitedHealth Group grew so big and what that means for the U.S. health-care system.
Kate Kelly, New York Times reporter, Larry McDonald, The Bear Trap Report founder, and CNBC’s Leslie Picker join ‘Last Call’ to discuss the latest comments from Janet Yellen on the banking crisis, the ongoing debt ceiling debate, and more.
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$95 annual fee
No introductory 0% financing offers for purchases or balance transfers
Who’s this for? TheCapital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card earns bonus cash back in categories that are likely to take up a good portion of your Disney vacation’s budget: Dining and entertainment. This makes it a great choice for anyone who wants to maximize the rewards they earn while at Disney World or Disneyland.
Standout benefits for your Disney trip: The Capital One Savor card stands out because it earns 4% back on dining and entertainment (which includes theme park tickets). If you prefer to pack your lunch, this card also earns 3% back at grocery stores.
2% cash back: 1% on all eligible purchases and an additional 1% after you pay your credit card bill
Welcome bonus
Annual fee
Intro APR
0% for the first 18 months on balance transfers; N/A for purchases
Regular APR
Balance transfer fee
For balance transfers completed within 4 months of account opening, an intro balance transfer fee of 3% of each transfer ($5 minimum) applies; after that, a balance transfer fee of 5% of each transfer ($5 minimum) applies
Foreign transaction fee
Credit needed
Pros
2% cash back on all eligible purchases
Simple cash-back program that doesn’t require activation or spending caps
One of the longest intro periods for balance transfers at 18 months
Cons
3% fee charged on purchases made outside the U.S.
Estimated rewards earned after 1 year: $443
Estimated rewards earned after 5 years: $2,213
Who’s this for? TheCiti® Double Cash Card is a solid card for anyone who doesn’t want to deal with an annual fee or complicated rewards program.
Standout benefits for your Disney trip: The Citi Double Cash Card focuses on one thing, and it does it well — it earns cash back. With this card, you’ll earn 2% back on every purchase with no annual cap on the cash back you can earn. You’ll get 1% back when you buy and 1% back when you pay.
Earn unlimited 2 points for every $1 spent on travel and dining purchases and unlimited 1.5 points per $1 spent on all other purchases.
Welcome bonus
Receive 50,000 bonus points — a $500 value — after you make at least $3,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.
Annual fee
Intro APR
Regular APR
20.24% – 27.24% variable APR on purchases and balance transfers
Balance transfer fee
Either $10 or 3% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater
Foreign transaction fee
Credit needed
Pros
Up to $100 annual airline incidental credit
Priority Pass™ Select membership
25% to 75% more points for Preferred Rewards members
No fee charged on purchases made outside the U.S.
Cons
$95 annual fee
No special financing offers on new purchases
Information about the Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.
It’s hard to go wrong with the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card because the points you earn can be redeemed in many different ways. Not only that, but it also comes with an excellent welcome bonus, lucrative bonus categories and some other useful perks.
Rewards
5X points per dollar spent on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
5X points per dollar spent on Lyft rides through Mar. 31, 2025
3X points per dollar spent on dining
3X points per dollar spent on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs).
3X points per dollar spent on select streaming services.
2X points per dollar spent on all other travel purchases
1X points per dollar spent on all other purchases
10% anniversary points boost
$50 annual Ultimate Rewards hotel credit
Bonus
Earn 80,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
Annual fee
$95
Notable perks
You can transfer Chase points to over a dozen airline and hotel partners. This includes World of Hyatt, which has several hotels near Disney World or Disneyland that only cost 8,000 to 15,000 points per night.
Chase points are also useful for booking domestic flights and Chase partners with several airline programs that allow you to book certain routes for 10,000 points or less each way. For a family of four, it may only take 80,000 points to fly roundtrip to Orlando or Anaheim. Alternatively, Sapphire Preferred cardholders can redeem points for 1.25 cents apiece through the Chase Travel Portal, which makes 10,000 points worth $125 in travel.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is also great for the many travel protections it offers, including primary rental car insurance, trip cancellation and interruption insurance and baggage and trip delay insurance. Just remember that you must pay for your travel with your card to be eligible for the insurance protections.
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is a popular travel credit card that can help you earn rewards to use for just about any travel expense. Plus, its straightforward points-earning structure means that you’ll be able to maximize the return for spending with minimal effort.
Rewards
5X miles per dollar on hotel and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
2X miles per dollar on every other purchase
Bonus
Earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within three months from account opening.
Annual fee
$95
Notable perks
What makes the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card shine is how you can redeem its rewards. The simplest way to use Capital One miles is to offset recent travel purchases at a rate of one cent per mile. This allows you to shop around to find the best deal, rather than be limited to the bank’s travel portal. Plus, although tickets Disney park ticket purchases are typically classified as entertainment spending, there’s a way to redeem miles for them. The trick is to purchase your tickets through an online travel agency like Undercover Tourist or Expedia as they code these transactions as travel purchases, which means you can offset them with miles.
To potentially receive an even greater value for your miles, you can take advantage of Capital One’s transfer partners. For example, you can transfer Capital One miles to Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles at a 1:1 rate and book round-trip domestic award flights on United for only 15,000 miles.
Other perks include a credit of up to $100 to cover Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® membership and two complimentary visits per year to Capital One Lounges or 100+ Plaza Premium Lounges through the Partner Lounge Network, including a lounge at Orlando International Airport (MCO).
The Capital One Savor card earns bonus cash back in the categories where you’re likely to spend the most. The card offers bonus rewards for spending on Uber rides, dining, groceries, streaming services and entertainment.
Rewards
Bonus
Earn a one-time $300 cash bonus once you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.
Annual fee
$95
Notable perks
While there are many cards that offer bonus rewards for dining and grocery store spending, the Capital One Savor card is among the few to offer 4% cash back on entertainment purchases. This makes it a go-to option for sporting events, concerts, movies and, of course, Disney tickets.
The Capital One Savor card charges $0 in foreign transaction fees, so it’s a great option if you’re visiting a Disney theme park in Europe or Asia. Cardholders can also benefit from a complimentary Uber One membership (through 11/14/2024) and access to exclusive entertainment events, such as the iHeartRadio Music Festival and the Capital One JamFest.
The Citi Double Cash Card has no annual fee and earns a flat 2% back everywhere. If you like to keep things simple, you can’t beat that.
Rewards
Earn 2% back on all purchases, 1% when you buy and 1% when you pay.
Bonus
None.
Annual fee
$0
Notable perks
Let’s put the Citi Double Cash Card’s 2% back on all purchases in perspective. The Disney® Premier Visa® Card — which has a $49 annual fee — only earns 2% back in Disney Rewards Dollars at gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants and most Disney locations. And the Citi Double Cash’s unlimited 2% back is double what the no-annual-feeDisney® Visa® Card earns in rewards for everyday spending.
To put it simply, if you want to earn rewards from purchases that you can put toward a Disney vacation, the Citi Double Cash is more lucrative than the branded Disney cards.
While the Citi Double Cash is technically a cash-back card, it earns Citi ThankYou points, which you can redeem in a variety of ways for one cent each. You can also transfer rewards to three of Citi’s travel partners: Wyndham, JetBlue and Choice Privileges. However, if you pair this card with the Citi Premier® Card, you’ll be able to transfer your ThankYou points to all of Citi’s transfer partners and potentially get more value from your points.
For anyone with a sizeable amount of money deposited with Bank of America or Merrill (including retirement savings), the Bank of America Premium Rewards Credit Card is a stellar cash-back card.
Rewards
2X points for every $1 spent on travel and dining purchases
1.5X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
Up to 75% bonus on rewards for eligible Bank of America Preferred Rewards members
Bonus
Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending at least $3,000 in purchases within the first 90 days of account opening
Annual fee
$95
Notable perks
The Bank of America Premium Rewards Credit Card comes with emergency travel benefits like trip cancellation/interruption insurance, trip delay reimbursement, lost luggage and baggage delay insurance and transportation assistance. It also comes with purchase protections like extended warranty and return protection coverage. Although there’s a $95 annual fee, it can be offset by the annual airline incidentals credit of up to $100 and Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credit.
To choose the right credit card for your Disney vacation, you’ll need to know where you’ll be spending the most money. If you live within driving distance of a Disney theme park, earning airline miles may not be the best strategy. And if you prefer camping or packing your food, then hotel points or bonus cash back on dining purchases won’t do you much good.
Once you know what you’ll spend the most on, you’ll have an easier time choosing the right credit card, or credit cards, to help offset your biggest expenses and reward you for your most common purchases.
As with most rewards cards, the best credit cards for a Disney vacation will typically require a good to excellent score (670+ according to Experian). Secured credit cards are easier to get but often don’t earn rewards. However, a secured card could be a stepping stone to becoming eligible for lucrative card offers because it helps you rebuild and strengthen your credit.
The best credit card for Disney depends on your personal situation. That said, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is so versatile that it’s likely to be the best choice for most people. If you need to book flights or hotel rooms, you have multiple ways of doing that with Chase points, so you can cherry-pick the best deals. And if you want to pay for Disney tickets or just put gas in the car, it’s easy to convert Chase points into cash back.
On top of all that, the Chase Sapphire Preferred has one of the best welcome offers and is generously rewarding for all sorts of purchases.
Unless you have one of the Disney Visa cards and you prefer earning Disney Rewards Dollars, a cash-back credit card is a good type of card to consider for a Disney trip. Cash-back rewards are generally the only option for offsetting park tickets, food and other incidentals. If you know where you want to stay or what hotel chain you want to stay with, opening a hotel credit card can help you earn the points you need to book an award stay. And the same is true for airline miles, earning miles with an airline that serves your home airport may make sense. In that case, the right airline credit card can help save on airfare.
You can also easily search CNBC Select’s credit card marketplace for even more options. It allows you to filter the results by the credit score you need for approval, card type and card issuer.
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At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every credit cardreview is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit cardproducts. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best credit cards.
To determine which cards offer the best value for Disney vacations, CNBC Select analyzed over 230 of the most popular credit cards available in the U.S. We compared each card on a range of features, including: rewards, welcome bonus, introductory and standard APR, balance transfer fee and foreign transaction fees, as well as factors such as required credit and customer reviews when available. We also considered additional perks, the application process and how easy it is for the consumer to redeem points.
Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., greets Martin Gruenberg, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, during the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing in Dirksen Building on Tuesday, March 28, 2023.
Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
WASHINGTON — Sen. Elizabeth Warren is asking federal financial regulators for answers over what she called a “deeply troubling” deal that saw JPMorgan Chase take over First Republic Bank.
In a letter to regulators ahead of a Senate hearing on the matter, Warren highlighted that the deal, which is expected to produce a $2.6 billion gain for JPMorgan, resulted in a $13 billion loss to the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund.
Warren’s letter, dated Wednesday, is addressed to Martin Gruenberg, chairman of the Federal Deposit Investment Corp., and Michael Hsu, acting comptroller of the currency, an independent division of the Treasury Department.
Both Gruenberg and Hsu will testify before the Senate Banking committee on Thursday. A spokesperson for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said the agency does not comment on congressional correspondence. A representative for the FDIC told CNBC that it will respond directly to Warren.
“Without a complete regulatory review, and at a cost of $13 billion to the Federal Deposit Insurance Fund, the nation’s biggest bank — already too big to fail — got a bargain deal on a failing bank that made it even bigger,” wrote Warren, D-Mass.
JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank, acquired First Republic’s deposits and the bulk of its assets May 1 after regulators seized the bank — resulting in the biggest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis. First Republic was seen as the weakest link in the banking system following the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in March.
“Our government invited us and others to step up, and we did,” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in a press release May 1. “Our financial strength, capabilities and business model allowed us to develop a bid to execute the transaction in a way to minimize costs to the Deposit Insurance Fund.”
The FDIC allowed JPMorgan to take over the total package of First Republic’s assets for less than they were worth, according to Warren, a longtime critic of Wall Street. Meanwhile, the agency will bear 80% of the credit losses on the bank’s mortgages and commercial loans, she said.
She also asked questions about the process through which JPMorgan was selected from a pool of bidders.
The Massachusetts Democrat is seeking answers from Gruenberg and Hsu about whether the agency indeed resolved the bank failure at the lowest cost to the federal insurance fund, as is required by law.
The FDIC declared a systemic risk exception to avoid taking a least-cost route toward guaranteeing uninsured deposits after SVB and Signature failed, but this method was not applied to First Republic. Instead, the insurance fund was allowed to take a multibillion-dollar loss after billions of dollars worth of the bank’s uninsured deposits were rescued during the deal, Warren said.
“The FDIC appeared to prioritize First Republic’s uninsured deposits at the bank before the Insurance Fund,” she said.
The US Treasury Department building is seen in Washington, DC, January 19, 2023.
Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images
This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.
Progress on U.S. debt ceiling talks and a sign of health at one regional bank gave markets the confidence to rally Wednesday.
Top U.S. leaders said the country will avoid a debt crisis. “I think at the end of the day we do not have a debt default,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told CNBC. President Joe Biden echoed that sentiment in remarks from the White House. “We’re going to come together because these is no alternative,” Biden said.
U.S. markets rose Wednesday as investors hoped U.S. lawmakers manage to reach a deal on the country’s debt ceiling. Asia-Pacific stocks traded higher Thursday on the back of that optimism. Japan’s Topix Index rose 1.1%, its third straight day of increase, as Japan’s trade deficit narrowed by almost half in April.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin in a taped interview that society needs to come together to “mitigate the dangers” of artificial intelligence. But Nadella was also optimistic about AI’s impact: He thinks it’ll create new jobs and improve education.
PRO Traders expect the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged when it meets later in June. However, the central bank could enact a “substitute” hike that would keep monetary policy tight, according to Evercore ISI.
Progress on U.S. debt ceiling talks and a sign of health at one regional bank gave markets the confidence to rally Wednesday.
U.S. leaders from both sides of the political spectrum expressed hope that the country will avert a sovereign debt crisis, which could come in as little as two weeks, if U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s warning of a June 1 deadline comes true. Though neither Biden nor McCarthy offered concrete details on a deal, their comments were markedly more positive than those on Monday, when McCarthy told NBC News both sides are still “far apart.”
Adding to yesterday’s positive sentiment, regional bank Western Alliance reported that customer deposits have grown by more than $2 billion throughout the current quarter. Analysts and investors cheered the news. Shares of the bank jumped 10.2% and helped to lift the sector. PacWest, another regional bank, surged 21.7%, while the broader SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) rose 7.4%.
Technology stocks rallied yesterday, possibly because of diminishing fears of a debt crisis and positive sentiment from Tesla, which climbed 4.4% after the company’s shareholder meeting. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) rose 1.2%, hitting a 52-week high for the third straight day.
Major stock indexes benefited from those rises. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.24% higher, the Nasdaq Composite added 1.28% and the S&P 500 rose 1.19%.
But the S&P might be too reliant on tech stocks, Mizuho warned. Simply put, without Big Tech stocks, the S&P 500 would be down for the year. That implies that if Big Tech experiences a downturn — as it did last year — then the S&P would tumble pretty quickly.
Still, the future is bright for now. Goldman Sachs’ Senior Strategist Ben Snider told CNBC AI could increase the profits of S&P companies by 30% — with technology sector being the immediate winner. Fears averted for another day.
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Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $75 million to victims of sex predator Jeffrey Epstein to settle a federal lawsuit accusing the bank of enabling and benefitting from its customer’s sex trafficking of young women, sources told CNBC on Wednesday night.
The bombshell deal still leaves JPMorgan Chase to defend its own would-be class action lawsuit by Epstein accusers in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, which involves similar allegations.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who has said the bank is not liable for sex trafficking by its former long-time customer Epstein, is due to be deposed in that suit, and a related one by the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands on May 26.
The settlement agreement by Deutsche Bank, which will set aside $75 million for Epstein accusers, was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Under the deal, victims of Epstein who were affected by his sex trafficking during the time when he was a customer of Deutsche Bank, from 2013 through 2018, would receive at least $75,000 and up to $5 million depending on an evaluation of their claims.
Deutsche Bank spokesman Dylan Riddle would not comment on the deal, but noted that his bank has spent more than 4 billion euros [$4.34 billion] to strengthen internal financial controls.
“In recent years Deutsche Bank has made considerable progress in remedying a number of past issues,” Riddle said.
He noted that in 2020, when the bank agreed to pay a $150 million fine to New York’s financial regulator for its dealings with Epstein and other issues, Deutsche Bank had said, “We acknowledge our error onboarding Epstein in 2013, and the weaknesses in our processes, and have learnt from our mistakes and our shortcomings.”
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The two law firms representing the accusers, Edwards Pottinger and Boies Schiller Flexner, in a joint statement obtained by CNBC said: “This groundbreaking settlement is the culmination of two law firms conducting more than a decade-long investigation to hold one of Epstein’s financial banking partners responsible for the role it played in facilitating his trafficking organization.”
The suit, which was seeking class-action status, was filed in November by a woman using the pseudonym Jane Doe. She alleged Deutsche Bank knowingly participated in and financially benefited from participating in Epstein’s sex trafficking “by providing the requisite financial support for the continued operation” of that scheme.
“Deutsche Bank also knew that Epstein would use means of force, threats of force, fraud, abuse of legal process, exploitation of power disparity, and a variety of other forms of coercion to cause young women and girls to engage in commercial sex acts,” the suit says.
“Knowing that they would earn millions of dollars from facilitating Epstein’s sex trafficking, and from its relationship with Epstein, Deutsche Bank chose profit over following the law,” the suit said. “Specifically, Deutsche Bank chose facilitating a sex trafficking operation in order to churn profits.”
A video still from the NBC archive showing Donald Trump talking with Jeffrey Epstein at a party in Mar-A-Lago from 1992.
NBC
Epstein, who had been a customer of JPMorgan from 1998 through 2013, became a customer of Deutsche Bank after JPMorgan ended its banking relationship with him.
“Deutsche Bank picked up exactly where JPMorgan left off and became the bank that Epstein needed to fund his sexual abuse and sex-trafficking operation,” the suit says.
His arrest in that case came 10 years after he served a jail sentence or more than a year for pleading guilty in Florida state court to soliciting sex for money from an underage girl. That 2008 guilty plea was widely publicized.
Ghislaine Maxwell and Elon Musk attend the 2014 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter on March 2, 2014 in West Hollywood, California.
Kevin Mazur | vf14 | Wireimage | Getty Images
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the U.S. Virgin Islands can serve a subpoena for Elon Musk to his electric car company Tesla, as part of the government’s lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase over the bank’s ties to dead sexual trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The ruling came days after lawyers for the USVI government told Judge Jed Rakoff they had been unable to serve the Tesla CEO personally with the subpoena demanding documents related to Epstein and JPMorgan.
The Virgin Islands is suing JPMorgan in U.S. District Court in Manhattan for allegedly enabling and financially benefiting from Epstein’s sex trafficking of young women. The late financier and sex criminal had been a customer of the bank from 1998 through 2013. JPMorgan denies any wrongdoing.
On April 28, the USVI issued a subpoena to Musk because of suspicion that Epstein “may have referred or attempted to refer” Musk as a client to JPMorgan, according to a court filing Monday.
That subpoena demands that Musk turn over any documents showing communication involving him, JPMorgan and Epstein, as well as “all Documents reflecting or regarding Epstein’s involvement in human trafficking and/or his procurement of girls or women for consensual sex.”
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The USVI said in a court filing Monday that an investigative firm it had retained had been unable to locate Musk to serve him in person with the subpoena, as is the norm.
The filing also said that a lawyer for Musk did not reply to a request that the attorney accept the subpoena for his client.
Rakoff, in his order Wednesday, authorized the USVI to “arrange alternative service of its Subpoena to Produce Documents by serving Elon Musk via service upon Tesla Inc.’s registered agent.”
Musk didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The USVI also has issued similar subpoenas for documents related to Epstein and JPMorgan to Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, former Disney executive Michael Ovitz, Hyatt Hotels executive chairman Thomas Pritzker and Mort Zuckerman, the billionaire real estate investor.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is scheduled to be deposed on May 26 for the lawsuit and for a related suit against the bank by a woman who says Epstein sexually abused her.
Muks in a tweet Monday night had blasted the idea of that he be given a subpoena in the case.
“This is idiotic on so many levels,” Musk wrote on Twitter, which he bought and took private last year.
“That cretin never advised me on anything whatsoever,” he wrote, referring to Epstein.
“The notion that I would need or listen to financial advice from a dumb crook is absurd,” Musk added. “JPM let Tesla down ten years ago, despite having Tesla’s global commercial banking business, which we then withdrew. I have never forgiven them.”
In 2018, Epstein told The New York Times he had been advising Musk after the Securities and Exchange Commission opened a probe into Musk’s comments about taking Tesla private. A Tesla spokesperson told The Times, “It is incorrect to say that Epstein ever advised Elon on anything.”
Epstein killed himself in August 2019, a month after federal authorities arrested him on an indictment charging him with child sex trafficking. He had previously pleaded guilty in 2008 to a Florida state charge of soliciting sex from an underage girl.
Before his fall from grace, Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, socialized with many rich and powerful people, among them former presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, as well as Britain’s Prince Andrew, the brother of King Charles III.
Maxwell, a British socialite, was convicted in late 2021 in federal court in Manhattan of procuring underage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. Maxwell was sentenced in June 2022 to 20 years in prison.
Musk in July 2020 replied to a Twitter post that showed him posing for a photo next to a smiling Maxwell.
“Don’t know Ghislaine at all,” Musk wrote. “She photobombed me once at a Vanity Fair party several years ago. Real question is why VF invited her in the first place.”
The New York Times, in a 2022 article detailing that photo, reported that a Vanity Fair staff member who had stood next to both Maxwell and Musk at the party said that “the pair chatted.”
“Ms. Maxwell asked Mr. Musk if there were a way to remove oneself from the internet and encouraged Mr. Musk to destroy the internet; Mr. Musk demurred,” The Times reported, citing the staffer, who shared contemporaneous notes of the encounter.
“Ms. Maxwell then asked Mr. Musk why aliens hadn’t yet made contact with humanity, to which Mr. Musk replied that all civilizations eventually end — including Maxwell’s hypothetical alien one — and raised the possibility that humans are living in a simulation.”
Gerard Cassidy, RBC Capital Markets managing director, joins ‘Fast Money’ to discuss the fallout of the banking crisis, Bank of America’s recent performance, and more.
A New York federal judge warned JPMorgan Chase that he might find the bank in contempt of court if it does not speed up in producing evidence related to late sexual offender and money manager Jeffrey Epstein for lawsuits by an Epstein accuser and the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands, CNBC has learned.
Judge Jed Rakoff suggested in a notice that JPMorgan and two law firms representing the bank have been slow-walking in turning over documents and other evidence to plaintiffs in the case, under a process known as discovery, according to a source familiar with the notice.
The notice comes two weeks before JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is scheduled to be questioned under oath by plaintiffs’ lawyers for the civil suits, which accuse his bank of enabling and benefiting from Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking of young women.
“The Court also wishes to note that it is concerned that JPMorgan is not moving more expeditiously to produce responsive documents,” Rakoff wrote in the notice, which has yet to appear on the public docket in the case in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
“While the Court appreciates the large volume of discovery that is to be completed in this case, a company as large as JPMorgan and counsel as experienced as WilmerHale and Massey & Gail should be able to move with greater speed than what was revealed by this incident,” the judge wrote, referring to the bank’s two law firms.
“So JPMorgan is put on notice that further expedition will be needed on pain of being put in contempt of Court,” Rakoff wrote.
A JPMorgan spokesperson had no comment on the notice.
Jeffrey Epstein attends Launch of RADAR MAGAZINE at Hotel QT on May 18, 2005.
Patrick McMullan | Getty Images
Epstein, who died from a jailhouse suicide in 2019 shortly after being arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges, was a long-time customer of the bank until 2013.
The lawsuits allege the bank allowed Epstein to remain a client despite evidence he was using millions of dollars he kept on deposit to facilitate his trafficking of girls and young women to his private island in the Virgin Islands and elsewhere.
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Five years before JPMorgan ended its customer relationship with Epstein, he pleaded guilty in Florida state court to soliciting sex for money from an underage girl and served 13 months in jail.
Before his conviction, Epstein was friends with former presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, as well as Prince Andrew of Britain.
JPMorgan denies any wrongdoing, and in its own civil complaint the company has said former bank executive Jes Staley would be legally responsible for any liability arising from its relationship with Epstein.
Staley spent three decades at JPMorgan and had close contact with Epstein — whom he considered a friend — over the years when Epstein was a customer.
Rakoff, in a court ruling published in early May, noted that “plaintiffs allege that Mr. Staley had first-hand knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation.”
“Mr. Staley is alleged to have visited Epstein’s residences several times while that operation was ongoing, and, during these visits, observed [the Epstein accuser suing JPMorgan] ‘as a sexual trafficking and abuse victim,’” Rakoff noted.
“Plaintiffs further allege that Mr. Staley himself abused some of Epstein’s victims, including” the woman suing the bank, the judge wrote. That woman claims that “‘one of Epstein’s friends’ — whom she later identified as Mr. Staley — ‘used aggressive force in his sexual assault of her and informed [her] that he had Epstein’s permission to do what he wanted to her.’”
In his own court filing, Staley called the accusations against him “baseless,” and he has denied knowledge of Epstein’s sex trafficking.
Staley stepped down as CEO of British banking giant Barclays in late 2021 after an inquiry by a United Kingdom regulator into how he had characterized his relationship with Epstein to Barclays.
If you are having suicidal thoughts or are in distress, contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for support and assistance from a trained counselor.
A judge accused JPMorgan of not being forthcoming quickly with documents in a case concerning the banks connection to disgraced billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.
