Jeffrey Epstein was once named ‘bachelor of the month’ by Cosmopolitan

Nearly three decades before Jeffrey Epstein ran into trouble with the law for being a sex offender, he was featured in Cosmopolitan magazine as a ‘bachlelor of the month.’

Epstein, the wealthy financier who faces federal sex trafficking charges, appeared in Cosmo’s July 1980 issue, where he was hailed as a ‘New York dynamo’ who was seeking a ‘cute Texas girl’.

He was featured in a section of the magazine which lists eligible bachelors across the country, according to The Daily Beast.

Epstein at the time was a trader at Bear Stearns, the Wall Street investment bank.

As ‘bachelor of the month,’ Cosmo invited single women to write to him at the bank’s Manhattan headquarters.

Jeffrey Epstein is seen in a mug shot handed out by New York State authorities last week

Jeffrey Epstein was once named ‘bachelor of the month’ by Cosmopolitan magazine in 1980 – decades before he was charged with sex crimes. Epstein is seen left during his stint as a school teacher in New York City in the 1970s. He is seen right in a mug shot distributed last week

Epstein was featured in the July 1980 edition of Cosmopolitan magazine

Epstein was featured in the July 1980 edition of Cosmopolitan magazine

‘Financial strategist Jeffrey Epstein, 27, talks only to people who make over a million a year!’ the ad read.

‘If you’re “a cute Texas girl,” write this New York dynamo at 55 Water St., 49th floor, N.Y.C. 10041.’

The ad included a photo of Epstein, who is wearing a suit and tie. He is also sporting a dark-haired mullet.

In August 1980, Bear Stearns placed an ad in The Wall Street Journal announcing that Epstein was one of the bank’s employees who made limited partner.

The next year, however, Epstein left Bear Stearns after he allegedly loaned a friend $20,000 to buy stock.

After his stint at Bear Stearns, Epstein began to work exclusively as a money manager for wealthy moguls worth at least $1billion.

His only known client in the 1980s was Leslie Wexner, the chairman of Limited Brands, the parent company of Victoria’s Secret.

For two decades Epstein was personal wealth adviser to Wexner.

But ex-employees have alleged that his powers stretched far beyond this brief and said he had input in L Brands’ management.

He tried to influence the selection of Victoria’s Secret models and also purchased a $10million plane on the company’s behalf, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Recalling business meetings with now 81-year-old Wexner, a former director said: ‘He would say Jeffrey says this and Jeffrey says that’.

In light of fresh charges being brought against Epstein – who is in custody in New York for alleged sex trafficking – L Brands are examining the extent of his influence in the company.

A spokesperson for L Brands said they do not believe Epstein was either an employee or representative of the company and branded his crimes as ‘abhorrant’.

From the 1980s to the early 2000s, Epstein and Wexner forged a close professional and personal relationship.

Sources close to the pair claim told the Wall Street Journal the retail tycoon was attracted to the financier’s high-flying New York lifestyle and charm.

Robert Morosky, former vice chairman of L Brands, said: ‘Les is an insecure guy with a big ego…he had a lot of money but craved respect. They [Wexner and Epstein] played off each other’s needs.

Since fresh charges were brought against Epstein, Wexner has moved to distance himself from his former friend.

In a memo to L Brands employees earlier this month, he wrote: ‘I would never have guessed that a person I employed more than a decade ago could have caused such pain to so many people.’

Last week, L Brands instructed a team of lawyers to review the financier’s position following reports from former executives that the 66-year-old unofficially burrowed his way into the Ohio-headquartered business through his ties to Wexner.

Epstein, who kept a number of powerful figures as friends including Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Alan Dershowitz, and others, is currently jailed at Metropolitan Correctional Center after being charged with molesting girls at his homes in New York and West Palm Beach between 2002 and 2005.

He has pleaded not guilty to two charges of sex trafficking and is next due in court on Wednesday.

The now 66-year-old hedge fund manager is accused of paying underage girls hundreds of dollars for massages and then molesting them at various locations from 2002 through 2005. 

Last week, Epstein reportedly tried to hang himself in his jail cell. His cellmate claims to have saved his life.

Jeffrey Epstein's cellmate Nicholas Tartaglione (pictured)  says he saved the billionaire pedophile's life during his recent suicide attempt inside Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York

Jeffrey Epstein’s cellmate Nicholas Tartaglione (pictured) says he saved the billionaire pedophile’s life during his recent suicide attempt inside Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York

Tartaglione and Epstein are in the same Special Housing Unit which is home to 99 inmates who pose a security risk or have violated disciplinary rules

Tartaglione and Epstein are in the same Special Housing Unit which is home to 99 inmates who pose a security risk or have violated disciplinary rules

Nicholas Tartaglione – a former NYPD officer accused of killing four men over a drug deal gone wrong – claims he found Epstein unconscious on Tuesday night.

Epstein tried to hang himself before Tartaglione, 49, quickly called for help, according to the New York Daily News.

Investigators were initially trying to determine whether Tartaglione had assaulted Epstein or whether the billionaire financier had attempted to end his own life when he was found in his cell.

Epstein was rushed to hospital with neck injuries, while Tartaglione was questioned about Epstein’s behavior and mental state in the hours before he was found on the floor.

However, Tartaglione’s attorney Bruce Barket told DailyMail.com on Friday that the pair had struck up a close friendship following Epstein’s arrest on July 6.

The twosome are in the same Special Housing Unit which is home to 99 inmates who pose a security risk or have violated disciplinary rules.

Muscle-bound Tartaglione is accused of murdering four men following a botched cocaine deal in December 2016.

Attorney General William Barr declared back in March that prosecutors would be seeking the death penalty over the callous crime.

Tartaglione is alleged to have lured his four victims to a bar in upstate New York, before he held them their against their will and killed them. 

TIMELINE OF JEFFREY EPSTEIN’S LEGAL TROUBLES

1999-2002 – Virginia Roberts [Jane Doe #3] claims to she served as a ‘sex slave’ for Jeffrey Epstein and was required to engage in sexual activity with him and a number of his high-profile friends.  

March 2005 – Authorities in Florida launch a probe into Epstein after a mother calls and alleges that her daughter was molested at his Palm Beach estate.

May 2006 – A probable cause affidavit is filed by the Palm Beach Police Department after the sexual battery investigation into Epstein, Sarah Kellen and Haley Robson Sworn. It charges Epstein with four counts of lewd and lascivious behavior for unlawful sex with a minor. Five victims and seventeen witnesses were interviewed, and alleged that Epstein engaged in unlawful sexual behavior. Sworn meanwhile was accused of profiting by providing young girls to Epstein, while Kellen was tasked with keeping a black book containing the names and contact information of these minors in her capacity as Epstein’s assistant.

May 2006 – Barry Krischer, the State Attorney in Palm Beach, refers the case to a grand jury. 

June 2006   The grand jury returns an indictment of one count of solicitation of prostitution. This charge does not reflect that the individual in question was a minor. Only one girl testifies in front of the grand jury.

July 2006 – The Palm Beach Police Chief grows increasingly annoyed as he watches the lack of progress his investigation is making in the legal system, and convinces the FBI to open a federal investigation. It is dubbed Operation Leap Year and the possible crime being probed is ‘child prostitution.’

November 2006   Operation Leap Year picks up steam as the FBI begins interviewing potential witnesses and victims from the three states where Epstein owns property: Florida, New York and New Mexico. 

June 2007 – The US Attorney’s Office drafts a lengthy indictment as the federal probe  of Epstein comes to an end, while at the same time Epstein begins negotiating a possible plea deal. 

July 2007 – A new set of grand jury subpoenas are issued, including ones for Epstein’s computers. When police go to execute those subpoenas at Epstein’s Palm Beach home, they discover they have all been removed. 

August 2007 – The US Attorney in Miami at the time, Alex Acosta, joins the Epstein negotiation talks. 

September 2007 – Epstein signs a non-prosecution agreement on September 24 after rejecting multiple plea deals. His criminal charges are then deferred to the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office.

October 2007   Acosta meets with Epstein’s lawyer Jay Lefkowitz to finalize the terms of the plea deal. It is agreed that the victims would not be notified,  the deal would be kept under seal and all grand jury subpoenas would be canceled – including the one for Epstein’s computers, which were still at large.

January 2008 – After months of demands, Epstein and his lawyers say they will not longer accept the plea deal because he forces him to register as a sex offender.

February 2008 – A civil lawsuit is filed against Epstein by an anonymous woman, stating that as a 16-year-old minor she was recruited to give Epstein a paid massage. She demands $50 million, claiming that she was then force to perform sex acts on Epstein.

March 2008 – A federal grand jury presentation is planned following the FBI probe. Lawyers for Epstein begin harassing victims with phone calls and one of his investigators is accused of trying to run a victim’s father off the road.  

March 2008 – A second woman files a civil action against Epstein.

May 2008 – It is announced that with no plea deal in case, the federal case against Epstein can proceed. 

June 2008 – On June 30, Epstein pleads guilty to one count of solicitation of prostitution and one count of solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18. Both are state charges and he is sentenced to 18 months in jail. He will also have to register as a sex offender.

July 2008 – Epstein’s victims learn of the plea deal, but it will be another 10 years before they are informed of all the details, including the fact that victim was 16 in the charge to which Epstein entered a guilty plea and not 14 like the women were led to believe. This allowed Epstein to avoid registering as a sex offender in multiple states like New Mexico, where he has a ranch. An emergency petition is filed udner the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, which mandates that victims be informed about plea agreements and the right to appear at sentencing. It is ignored.

August 2008 – Epstein’s agreement cannot be unsealed for the victims to see it is ruled in court, with federal prosecutors fighting to keep the records hidden from the public.

October 2008 – Epstein begins work release from the county stockad, where  six days a week an he is transported to an office where he is able to work and entertain visitors. He returns to the stockade in the evening.

December 2008 – A judge grants Epstein’s request to travel to New York for a day and then an extended stay. He says it is for a court case, but after an initial filing there is no follow-up in the case. 

July 22, 2009 – Epstein is released from prison. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk