Business deals, beautiful women, real estate and rub-downs: these friends had a lot of common interests.
Among the high-profile power players and politicos in Jeffrey Epstein’s web of influence, one frequent correspondent and confidante was Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, according to the files released by the Justice Department.
He is an Emirati billionaire businessman and the CEO of DP World, a massive global supply chain and logistics company.
Bin Sulayem is now one of many people worldwide under renewed scrutiny for their Epstein ties. His was among six names read out on the House floor Tuesday by Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, one of the authors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, who has criticized the DOJ and Trump administration for what he and others have regarded as a lack of transparency when it comes to the Epstein files saga.
ABC News contacted representatives at DP World seeking comment from Bin Sulayem, but received no response.
Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DP World addresses the gathering on the first day of the three-day B20 Summit in New Delhi on August 25, 2023. (Photo by Sajjad HUSSAIN / AFP via Getty Images)
Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images
For years, before and after Epstein became a convicted sex offender, Bin Sulayem and the infamous financier kept up a free-flowing exchange of emails and ideas, according to the files. Their conversations ran the gamut from workshopping financial proposals to rating sexual conquests; from recommending well-connected contacts on the world stage to recommending a certain kind of massage.
Their notes often found one another in different time zones — and often with the idea of meeting up, whether in some mutual city or one of Epstein’s luxurious homes.
In late August and September 2005, the pair appeared to discuss scheduling time together first in New York, then on to Epstein’s island, Little St. James, in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Documents that were included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files are photographed Friday, Jan. 2, 2026.
Jon Elswick/AP
“Are you going to the Clinton Forum? I see that the Secretary General is scheduled to attend. If so, we can go to my island after the forum. Call me so we can discuss the details,” Epstein said. Bin Sulayem replied that his meetings were “flexible” and could be rearranged around Epstein’s.
Later on in the exchange, Epstein wanted to know from Bin Sulayem “what time you would like your massage today in new york.”
Other times, the pair were celebrating their successes. In one Oct. 2011 note, Bin Sulayem sent Epstein a glowing write-up of his recent speech announcing their London Gateway site.
“Im proud of you..” Epstein answered. They then discussed meeting up in Bodrum for “the spa.”
Sometimes Bin Sulayem would seek Epstein’s advice.
“Dear Jeffrey This is the one I went with to Paris,” Bin Sulayem wrote in June 2013 — attaching details of a 25-year-old blonde, complete with bra cup size and favorite cocktail.
“Do you think she is a he??” Bin Sulayem asked. Epstein replied, “The hands do look like mine.”
“No way you must be kidding I am getting sick,” Bin Sulayem said.
Their conversations, always frank, sometimes verged on crude or objectifying.
“By the way the Ukrainian and the Moldavian arrived,” Bin Sulayem wrote Epstein on Nov. 12, 2013. “Big disappointment the Moldavian is not as attractive as the picture while the Ukrainian is very beautiful.”
“Photo shop,” Epstein said. Bin Sulayem replied, “Not only that she was too short and skinny.”
In April 2009, Epstein emailed, “where are you? are you ok, I loved the torture video.” There is no further explanation or context of the video mentioned. Bin Sulayem said he was in China and would return in a couple of weeks. “Hope to see you,” Epstein said.
When Epstein was in Paris one week in early Sept. 2015, Bin Sulayem had just returned from Vladivostok.
“I had a good meeting with President Putin,” he told Epstein. “I am now in London Tomorrow I am having a meeting with David Cameron at 10 dawning street [sic]. I will stay till Wednesday how long you are staying,” he asked. Epstein replied, “call me.”
Later that same month, their conversation turned to a different topic. Bin Sulayem sent Epstein a picture, saying, “This girl is russian father Cypriot mom I met her two years ago she goes to [the] American university in Dubai.”
“She got engaged but now she back with me,” Bin Sulayem added. “The best sex I ever had amazing body.”
Jeffrey Epstein is seen in this image released by the Department of Justice in Washington, December 19, 2025
U.S. Justice Department
In Dec. 2013, Bin Sulayem sang the praises of a special massage he got in Japan. His note included what appeared to be an itemized chart breaking down each price range for each level of “popular” and attractive women, and detailed descriptions of intimate massages that included sexual touching, feathers, oils and orgasm. He attached the full menu of services for Epstein’s perusal.
“I am in Tokyo I just tried the full massage,” Bin Sulayem wrote. “Great,” Epstein replied.
Sometimes, they’d offer to link their friend up with a new contact.
“I am in Berlin with the Israeli defense minister I have told him about you and sheik Mohamed,” Bin Sulayem wrote Epstein in March 2012. “He would like to meet you both.”
“Sultan , joi will be in Dubai in sept . He is one of us,” Epstein wrote to Bin Sulayem on July 31, 2013. “World [sic] love to meet him,” Bin Sulayem replied.
“Joi is the most connected to the tech world person in the states. he runs the MIT media lab, he is one of us,” Epstein wrote Sept. 1, 2013. Joi appears to be a reference to Joi Ito, the former director of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — who in 2019 resigned over and apologized for his financial ties to the by-then late sex offender, saying he had no knowledge of Epstein’s “horrific acts” and interacted with him as part of “fundraising efforts.”
“One of us” is a recurrent refrain used by Epstein, including in conversation with Bin Sulayem. In one Sept. 2009 email, Epstein sent him an ABC News report about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez giving his security detail the slip in New York, after his United Nations General Assembly speech. Epstein wrote in the subject line, “told you he is one of us.”
In May 2018, with Epstein cc’d, Bin Sulayem reached out to Steve Bannon for a meeting while they were both in Dubai. “Yes,” Bannon said, “Honored.”
“I will arrange picking you up from AbuDhabi by Heli we will do a sky tour of dubai and we will have a meeting I will update you on my meetings in Washington and seek your advice on how we can move forward,” Bin Sulayem said. “thank you your higness [sic],” Bannon said.
