GNV has already published a number of articles about the revelations in the Epstein Files – a large collection of emails and other documents related to US financier Jeffrey Epstein that were made public by the US government in 2025-2026. This article will zoom in on the emails between Epstein and some of his associates surrounding the uprising in Libya in 2011 that resulted in the overthrow of the Muammar Gaddafi regime.

The emails show these people discussing a variety of ways to profit from the conflict and the expected change of government. A review of these snapshots in time gives us the opportunity to explore the mechanisms by which individuals and corporations are able to profit from conflicts, instability, and the transfer of power. They reveal less about the questionable deeds of Epstein himself, and more about a broader ecosystem made up of opportunistic actors that can most likely be found in any conflict situation around the world.

Rebels on the road, April 2011 (Photo: Rosen Ivanov Iliev / Shutterstock.com)

The Libyan uprising

The conflict in Libya occurred in the context of what became known as the “Arab Spring”. Large-scale protests against government corruption and economic hardship, among other issues, first began in earnest in December 2010 in Tunisia. They quickly spread to several other countries in the Middle East and North African region. Within the space of a few weeks, rulers that had been in power for decades in Tunisia and Egypt were brought down.

In February 2011, protests also broke out in Libya. But unlike in its neighbours, the long-term rule of Gaddafi did not quickly come to an end. The government used force to suppress the protests, and in response, protestors began to take up arms. The situation deteriorated into an armed conflict. Rebels were able to rapidly take over most of eastern Libya. In response to violence against the protestors, many Western governments froze Libyan government assets held in their territories.

In March 2011, less than one month since the protests began, a group calling itself the Transitional National Council (TNC – it was later translated as the National Transitional Council, NTC) declared itself the sole representative of Libya. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) militarily intervened the same month, with US and European forces launching air strikes against a host of targets in Libya.

Fighting continued over the following months. In May, the TNC established full control of the city of Misurata in the west, less than 200 kilometres from the capital Tripoli. A number of governments around the world began to announce that they recognized the TNC as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people.

A building destroyed in the war (Photo: Nenad Novacic / Shutterstock.com)

Epstein is presented an opportunity

In June 2011, as the rebels appeared to be closing in on the capital, Epstein met with an old acquaintance, Gregory Brown. Brown was Chairman and CEO of a financial services company, and while he had known Epstein for more than three decades, they hadn’t seen each other in recent years.

Brown made it clear that he was seeking Epstein’s assistance in supporting the TNC in Libya. He laid out the details in an email later the same month. The TNC urgently needed cash and humanitarian aid. The TNC was also trying to gain access to Libyan government assets outside the country that had been frozen (as well as those held personally by Gaddafi and his associates). Such government assets alone were thought to total more than 80 billion USD. Brown was well aware of Epstein’s vast network of connections with people in power, and sought Epstein’s help securing access to those assets on behalf of the TNC.

Brown emphasized that many governments had officially recognized the TNC as the representative of Libya, and that it was “just a matter of time” before Gaddafi “is either killed or captured”. He also noted that with its large oil and gas reserves and funds frozen outside the country, Libya was a rich country – humanitarian aid would be repaid. More importantly, Brown suggested that assisting the TNC would give them access to a portion of the funds allocated for post-war reconstruction – “friends who help now, will be placed in front of the queue”.

Epstein appeared sceptical about the viability of the proposal. But Brown followed up by providing some estimates of the profits that could be expected from helping the TNC to recover Libyan funds outside of the country in an email the following month. He wrote, “if we can identify/recover 5% to 10% of these monies and receive 10% to 25% as compensation we are talking about billions of dollars”.

But “the real carrot” was to become the TNC’s “go-to guys” as they took power and began spending what was estimated to be more than 100 billion USD on reconstruction. Brown also intimated that he had friends with British and Israeli intelligence services that could assist in the identification and recovery of the funds.

A 2011 email from Brown to Epstein (DOJ: EFTA00915647)

Opportunities slip away?

On 15 July 2011, The US government formally recognized the TNC as the legitimate governing authority in Libya. This would help pave the way for the TNC to access the estimated 34 billion USD of Libyan assets held in the US. Brown expressed his frustration with Epstein’s failure to move forward at this point, as that path to profit seemed to have been taken away. He wrote, “If you had moved when I suggested a month ago, today we would be taking partial credit for this success and helping them move much of this $30 Billion into safer places under the TNC’s control, not to mention making tens of millions of dollars in fees”.

As the rebels closed in on Tripoli, Brown continued to press Epstein to join him in implementing his plans. In August he wrote that “it is a great adventure that will give us a bunch of new stories to share with friends, in addition to making a shit load of money”.

Epstein seemed unconvinced that the chaotic situation would settle in a way that would be of benefit to them. In one email to Brown he wrote that “everyone and their mother is claiming to be in control.. who is it exaclty [sic] that you haveyour best contact with”. He also stated that he would not take action in a way that was not entirely above board, considering the scrutiny they would be under as US citizens and the risks that entailed.

But Epstein was still clearly interested, and willing to engage with Brown in pushing the process forward. He suggested meeting Brown’s TNC contacts in New York or Paris, and offered the use of one of his jets for this purpose. In September, he claimed to have attended the International Conference in Support of the New Libya, hosted by France and the UK in Paris, although it is unclear in what capacity.

Brown pressed on, requesting that Epstein provide funds to bring a delegation of TNC leaders to New York for the opening of the UN General Assembly that same month. Epstein refused, saying that he couldn’t fund people that had not been properly vetted.

A meeting between representatives of the TNC and then British Foreign Secretary, May 2011 (Photo: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office / Flickr [CC BY 2.0])

On 20 October 2011, Gaddafi was killed, and three days later, TNC chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil declared the liberation of the country. Soon after, Brown wrote that Libya is “ripe with business opportunities”, and then in December asked Epstein to call him if he was “interested in moving forward”. By this stage, however, it appeared that most of the lucrative opportunities originally planned had been lost.

New regime, new paths to profit

In his attempted interventions in Libya, Brown had focused on the recovery of frozen and lost government funds, and the assumed availability of funds for post-war reconstruction. But there were other opportunities. The collapse of the Gaddafi regime in Libya, and the loss of political and economic power by those associated with the regime, meant that a new set of people would be in charge of decisions regarding corporate activity in Libya.

Other Epstein associates saw opportunities in this regard and wanted to take advantage of Epstein’s network. Roughly one month after the fall of Gaddafi, Epstein was contacted by Bill Conover, another individual involved in providing financial services. Conover that claimed to have “total access to the new gov in Libya for all business”, and that “substantial fees can be made with a few introductions”. He wanted to meet urgently.

Conover attempted to bring Epstein into a business relationship with the Eldarrat Group – a powerful entity based in Misurata with a wide variety of business interests. According to Conover, the group was “in the thick of things across the board in Libya and came out on top”. He shared with him a pitch from the group to the car manufacturer Hyundai, as the group sought to become their distributor in Libya.

Then in March 2012, Conover wrote to Epstein wanting to discuss business in Libya involving a large conglomerate based in the United Arab Emirates (the Al Otaiba group), and an expatriate Libyan family (the Saads) who would serve as local partners. He claimed that the group had been “principal financial sponsors” of the revolution. Conover informed Epstein that the group was investing large amounts of money in Libya and was going to take control of the Libyan national phone company. In addition, they were looking to obtain distribution licences for vehicle makers including “GM, Caterpillar, Mercedes, Volkswagen-Audi, Nissan”. They were also looking for a joint venture partner for drilling oil.

A 2012 email from Conover to Epstein (DOJ: EFTA01997174)

The degree to which Conover and Epstein were able to involve themselves in these business interests is unknown.

Goldman Sachs

At around the same time, Gregory Brown’s efforts to profit in Libya appeared to be bearing some fruit. Brown had set his sights on making a commission by recovering funds lost by the Libyan government from investments through Goldman Sachs. In 2007, Libya launched a sovereign wealth fund, and Goldman Sachs was one of the financial institutions hired to manage the investments, taking charge of more than 1.3 billion USD. The funds were invested in currency bets and other trades. When the global financial crisis broke out the following year, 98% of the funds were lost.

In March 2012, Brown informed Epstein of the “great news” that his associates in Libya had been approved by the TNC to represent Libya in negotiating a settlement with Goldman Sachs. Epstein responded with two words: “getting closer”.

But it was not to be. The sequence of events after this is unclear, but it is certain that for some reason, they were unable to proceed. In March 2013 Brown lamented to Epstein that they “blew this opportunity”. The case did, however, eventually end up being played out in a British court. In 2016, the court ruled in favour of Goldman Sachs, and the Libyan government was unable to recover the funds.

Instability as liability or opportunity?

From the perspective of a pure profit-seeking motive, Epstein’s cautious approach to many of these proposed ventures in Libya may have been in his favour in the end. The TNC was never able to fully take control of Libya. De facto power in many places remained in the hands of local militias, and in 2014, large-scale conflict broke out once more in the country. A group calling itself the Libyan National Army (LNA) took control of the east of the country in 2016, and advanced on the capital 2019, falling just short of taking over the government. Today, the country remains divided.

City streets (Photo: Alan & Flora Botting / Flickr [CC BY-SA 2.0])

But this is not to say that Epstein shied away from taking advantage of conflict and insecurity for monetary gain. As can be seen in emails with former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, he seemed to embrace such opportunities. In the case of Libya in 2011, though, his refusal to commit appeared to be the result of his lack of confidence in the people with whom he was dealing, and uncertainty regarding who was going to come out on top in the conflict.

The interactions seen in the emails that make up the Epstein Files give us a rare insight into what we can assume is an all-too-common phenomena of individuals and corporations attempting to profit from conflict and political upheaval. In a 2010 email unrelated to Libya, for example, Conover tells Epstein that his organization’s deal team people “went to Iraq with a few other telecom experts while the bullets were still flying and set up the first private mobile phone company in the Baghdad area”.

Clearly, profiting from conflict is not at all limited to arms dealing or the exploitation of valuable mineral resources. Shining light on such economic activities across a wide array of sectors remains an important endeavour.

Writer: Virgil Hawkins