British billionaire, brother of Simon Reuben and co-principal of Reuben Brothers, introduced to Jeffrey Epstein by the publicist Peggy Siegal in March 2010. Siegal met him at a LeFrak dinner at Mar-a-Lago, emailed Jeffrey Epstein from the table, and pitched him as "the first western investor in Russia" who is "into many fab scientific investments." Jeffrey Epstein answered "bring him over tomorrow for tea," then emailed Peter Mandelson the same morning to vet him ("david reuben, wants to come see me today,, do you know him"); Mandelson replied "A Reuben brother ?" and Jeffrey Epstein confirmed. Jeffrey Epstein called the tea off hours later, saying he was "without help at the house." The next day the investor Frederick Iseman warned Siegal that the family's Russian metals history was "kgb gangland warfare by proxy," and Siegal forwarded that warning to Jeffrey Epstein. Later contact runs through others: Siegal stayed at his Cannes villa above the Carlton in May 2011, he and his wife appear on the St. Barths guest list compiled for Harvey Weinstein, and in December 2011 David Stern proposed a China joint venture with him over the mobile payments company Luup. No document in the corpus shows Jeffrey Epstein and David Reuben meeting or transacting.
Key Findings
- EFTA02429452 / EFTA01826735 (Mar 20-21, 2010): Peggy Siegal emails Jeffrey Epstein from a dinner table: "I am sitting next to him. He lives in London and Cannes. Has a yacht called Siren that is 242 feet. He is going to Antigua tomorrow. He has done business is Russia for many years- he was the first western investor in Russia...he is into many fab scientific investments ...you need to meet him. How far is your island from Antigua?"
- EFTA00761567 (Mar 22, 2010): Siegal places that dinner at Mar-a-Lago: "I sat next to David Rueben at the LeFrak's dinner last night at Maralogo. He is Simon's brother... Born in Bagdad, grew up in Bombay till 15 and family moved to London. First Westerner in Russia, in Metals."
- EFTA01826629 / EFTA00747013 (Mar 21, 2010): Jeffrey Epstein replies to Siegal: "bring him over tomorrow for tea."
- EFTA00747018 / EFTA00890033 / EFTA00691555 / EFTA01826716 / EFTA02385031 (Mar 21, 2010, 10:15): Jeffrey Epstein emails Peter Mandelson to vet him the same morning: "david reuben, wants to come see me today,, do you know him." Mandelson replies two minutes later, "A Reuben brother ?" (EFTA00691555, EFTA02528953). Jeffrey Epstein answers "Yes" at 10:32 (EFTA00890038, EFTA01826751).
- EFTA01826735 (Mar 21, 2010, 10:23): Jeffrey Epstein cancels the tea: "Im sorry peggy, for the moment i am without help at the house. it makes this impossible." He was eight months out of the Palm Beach county jail at the time.
- EFTA00761567 (Mar 21-22, 2010): Frederick Iseman warns Siegal about the family's Russian metals history and she forwards the whole chain to Jeffrey Epstein with "FYI- Peg": "Read the Fortune magazine cover story on the Reubens in Russian of about 15 years ago during the Aluminum Wars. Simon says unfair and untrue. And I believe Simon, But what is clear is that this was kgb gangland warfare by proxy. As rough as it gets. They were very lucky to get out with their money, unharmed."
- EFTA02426831 (Mar 22, 2010): Siegal ranks him against another prospect for Jeffrey Epstein: "I think David Reuben might be a better boat owner (242)...he seems like a more stable new friend. Will advise after I meet this Michael Saylor."
- EFTA02025786 (May 2, 2011): Siegal presses Jeffrey Epstein to come to Cannes, describing "Debbie and David Reuben (brother of Simon) both from London" as having "cornered the Russian market on aluminum" and a "243 foot" boat: "we can go on will be around. Do you know him." (Her "Syrian Jews" description is her own and is inaccurate; the family is Iraqi-Jewish.)
- EFTA01985378 (May 17, 2011): Siegal reports from Cannes that she "Got Debbie and David Reuben (from London and he is a billionaire from aluminum market in Russia) to give me a bed in his home above the Carlton that King Leopold built."
- EFTA00925628 / EFTA01848382 / EFTA02007134 / EFTA02548082 / EFTA02695425 (Dec 8, 2011): David Stern emails Jeffrey Epstein: "My Chinese friend Wu Zheng (worth $1billion) is visiting me in London. I arranged meeting with David Reuben (worth $8.5 billion). The three of us discussed company Luup owned by Reuben: best mobile payment technology, mainly banking without an account. We will do JV for Luup in China (Wu, Reuben, Me)... Something we should do as part of your African initiative?"
- EFTA00900412 / EFTA01830988 / EFTA02010594 (undated): The St. Barths guest list compiled in Jeffrey Epstein's circle lists him at entry 36, "Debra/David Reuben a. On their boat/Siren," alongside Pinault, Vivi Nevo, Brett Ratner and Peggy Siegal.
- EFTA01362617 / EFTA01406355: "REUBEN BROTHERS LIMITED" (client 1000639994_GB, relationship manager Raphael Drescher, KCP EMEA) appears colour-coded RED in Deutsche Bank client remediation and offboarding spreadsheets produced under Fed. R. Crim. P. 6(e) in the SDNY grand jury investigation (DB-SDNY-0052112 / SDNY_GM_00198296). These lists carry thousands of unrelated clients; presence on one is not by itself an Epstein connection.
- Name collision, do not merge: EFTA00471506, EFTA02236234 and EFTA00838657 refer to David Reuben, M.D., chair of geriatric medicine at UCLA, an unrelated person appearing in event correspondence.