Powerful Dubai tycoon replaced after DOJ reveals sexually explicit emails with Epstein

By Sana Noor Haq, CNN

(CNN) — A tycoon from the United Arab Emirates whose intimate friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was revealed in the latest release of files by the US Justice Department has been replaced in his post as head of one of the world’s largest port operators.

Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem emerged as a powerful force in global trade as the former chairman and CEO of Dubai’s DP World, which has a footprint in more than 80 countries, over the past three decades.

Without naming bin Sulayem, Dubai’s Government Media Office announced Friday that DP World had appointed a new chairman and group CEO, positions previously held by bin Sulayem. DP World confirmed the new appointments to CNN.

Epstein affectionately described bin Sulayem, whose name appears thousands of times in the latest batch, as “funny,” “educated,” “a master” and a “best and trusted friend.”

The messages between Epstein and bin Sulayem reveal an intimate, yearslong friendship replete with misogynistic descriptions of women and girls, sexually explicit material, business proposals and a reference to an alleged torture video that has drawn scrutiny in the US Congress.

On Tuesday the DOJ un-redacted more names in the documents, highlighting six men, including bin Sulayem. A name appearing in the files is not on its own evidence of wrongdoing, and bin Sulayem has not been accused by authorities of any wrongdoing or charged with any crimes in connection with the late Epstein.

Their communication spanned at least a decade, including after September 2009, when Epstein was released from prison having pled guilty to child prostitution charges. Epstein died in 2019, awaiting trial on additional charges of sexual abuse of underage girls and running a sex trafficking ring. He pled not guilty.

A prominent Emirati business figure, bin Sulayem regularly makes appearances with Dubai’s ruler, and has been pictured with US President Donald Trump.

He attended the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, appeared at CNN International’s Global Perspectives live event last November and has featured in trophy presentations for the prestigious DP World Tour Championship golf tournament in Dubai.

At least two companies — a British investment platform and Canada’s second largest pension fund — reportedly halted future deals with DP World in the wake of the latest release of files. The Quebec-based hub La Caisse told CNN that it expects DP World to “shed light on the situation and take the necessary actions.”

Bin Sulayem’s glossy profile matches those of numerous other influential men whose appearances in the Epstein files reveal how the financier presented himself as a stealthy networker – leveraging his ties with wealthy businessmen, tech entrepreneurs, politicians and academics to connect the global elite.

Bin Sulayem is not a household name in the United States. But a newly published memo has propelled him into the spotlight in Washington.

In 2009, Epstein wrote a short email to a recipient that the DOJ had initially redacted. “Where are you? are you ok I loved the torture video,” he said at the time.

US Republican Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who was given access by the DOJ to the unredacted version, said this week on social media that the recipient was “a Sultan.” Later, US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the recipient’s name appeared in a separate unredacted file and linked to an email from bin Sulayem.

It is unclear what “torture video” Epstein is referring to in the email Blanche linked to. DP world declined to comment on the matter when reached by CNN before he was replaced in his position. CNN tried to call a number for bin Sulayem several times this week.

A business and diplomatic bridge

According to the newly released tranche of documents, Epstein and bin Sulayem traded regional contacts and discussed visits to Epstein’s Caribbean island – where survivors repeatedly testified that Epstein sexually abused them.

Bin Sulayem told Epstein about meetings with world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and former British Prime Minister David Cameron, in early September 2015, according to the files.

Epstein also offered bin Sulayem advice on how to approach the United Kingdom government to secure financing for a massive DP World project in London. In September, 2009, bin Sulayem forwarded Epstein a letter addressed to Peter Mandelson, then-British Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, requesting loan guarantees.

Epstein responded to bin Sulayem’s draft proposal with suggested edits. Two years later, when bin Sulayem sent him a press release announcing the project’s construction, Epstein wrote, “Im (sic) proud of you.”

Mandelson, who later became the UK ambassador to the US, is now the subject of a British police investigation over his ties to Epstein. He previously said he was “wrong to believe (Epstein) following his conviction and to continue my association with him afterwards.”

CNN has tried to contact Mandelson this week for comment.

The emails between bin Sulayem and Epstein also show attempts at brokering relations between UAE and Israeli officials began several years before Abu Dhabi normalized ties with Israel under the US-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020. Epstein appeared to initiate contact between bin Sulayem and then Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak as early as 2012.

Barak previously acknowledged his personal relationship with Epstein, but has said he never witnessed or participated in any improper behavior.

On March 22, 2012, Epstein told bin Sulayem he was in Berlin “with the Israeli defense minister” adding, “I have told him about you and sheik (sic) Mohamed. He would like to meet you both.”

In June, 2013, Epstein told Barak, who was no longer serving in government, “My friend sultan bin sulaiman (sic) is in st pete, I tnk (sic) you should meet, he is the right hand of maktoum,” apparently referring to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE prime minister and ruler of Dubai. At the time, world leaders were gathering at a Russian economic forum in St Petersburg.

A month later, Epstein appeared to pitch bin Sulayem’s DP World as a potential candidate to buy Israeli ports amid a privatization campaign. He sent Barak a Fox News story about Israel inviting international bids, asking, “is this something for sultan?” Barak replied, “Probably once (and IF) we’ll start getting deeper into a sincere peace process,” on the July 4, 2013 email chain, adding “we have to think harder on how to leverage this acquaintance.”

Two summers later, bin Sulayem asked Epstein, “Can you please arrange for me to meet Ehud.” Epstein forwarded the request to Barak, who replied, “Yes, of course” and asked him to share his phone number and contact information.

That diplomatic bridge extended as far as the White House.

On January 6, 2017, bin Sulayem asked Epstein whether he should “accept” an invitation to US President Donald Trump’s first inauguration. “Do you think it will be possible to shake hand (sic) with Trump?” Epstein, who didn’t attend the inauguration, said “unlikely.”

A year later, bin Sulayem asked to meet former Trump strategist Steve Bannon during a potential May 2018 trip to the UAE. “I will arrange picking you up,” the Emirati businessman said to Bannon, laying out details of a sky tour of Dubai and discussed future “meetings in Washington.” Epstein, who is cc’d in those emails, tells Bannon he “will have fun” with Sulayem.

Epstein shared ideas with bin Sulayem about how he should organize Bannon’s tour of the region. “Show him the scale of what you have done,” he said.

Sharing pornography on a family vacation

The files also appear to show how bin Sulayem shared detailed sexual accounts and graphic photos with Epstein – including in mid-August, 2015, when he apparently sent links to porn sites during a trip to Santa Fe with his “wife, three kids and a nanny,” according to the correspondence.

On June 13, 2013, bin Sulayem told Epstein, “I am off to sample a fresh 100% female Russian at my yacht.” Two years later, he told Epstein about a “girl” he knows from an American university in Dubai. “The best sex I ever had amazing body,” bin Sulayem said.

Further correspondence shows bin Sulayem and Epstein objectifying women and criticizing their physical appearances.

Bin Sulayem also appeared to facilitate training for Epstein’s “personal masseuse,” identified as a Russian national, to work at a hotel resort in Antalya, Turkey, “so she gains better experiences,” in June, 2017.

It is unclear if the individuals were sent to Antalya.

Survivors of Epstein’s abuse have repeatedly relayed testimony of being forced to perform massages and sex acts on him.

‘He is one of us’

More emails indicate that Epstein positioned himself as an information monger – parlaying intimate details about his contacts’ private lives to strengthen their relationships.

In correspondence from August 2013, Epstein told the Japanese entrepreneur Joichi Ito that bin Sulayem “speaks perfect English,” consumes “no alcohol in public” and “prays five times a day.” In the same thread, Epstein said the Dubai tycoon “has many viagra type connoctions (sic).”

While discussing a potential meeting with bin Sulayem, Ito said, “Assume I should meet him alone and not with my little punk girl sidekick right?”

Ito, who resigned as the head of the MIT Media Lab in 2019 after his financial ties to Epstein were made public, previously said he was “never involved in, never heard (Epstein) talk about, and never saw any evidence of the horrific acts that he was accused of.” He added that he was “deeply sorry to the survivors” for “bringing such a person into our network.”

CNN has reached out to the Chiba Institute of Technology in Japan, where Ito is president, for comment.

Barely a month later, Epstein told bin Sulayem in a separate memo, “Joi, is the most connected to the tech world person in the states. He runs the MIT media lab, he is one of us.”

Bin Sulayem replied, “I look forward to meet (sic) him I will take good care of him.”

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CNN’s Hira Humayun contributed reporting.