Epstein's Islands Sold For $60M A Billionaire Financier Plans A Luxury Resort
Little St. James and Great St. James in the U.S. Virgin Islands, listed at $110 million, sold in May 2023 to the Black Diamond Capital founder.
By the Rich vs Reality desk May 2023 10 sources

Could have fed
547,945
hungry kids for a whole year.
In May 2023 financier Stephen Deckoff, founder of Black Diamond Capital Management, bought Little St. James and Great St. James, the two private islands Jeffrey Epstein owned in the U.S. Virgin Islands, for $60 million, NPR and Bloomberg reported. They had been listed at $110 million.
Deckoff said he planned to build a luxury resort on the islands. Under a settlement between Epstein's estate and the territory, $30 million of the sale proceeds went to the U.S. Virgin Islands, including for services for survivors of sexual abuse and trafficking.
$60 million could feed about 548,000 hungry kids three meals a day for a whole year.
Under a settlement with the U.S. Virgin Islands, $30 million of the sale proceeds went to the territory, including for services for survivors of sexual abuse and trafficking.
$60 million could have changed these lives
Instead, it went on this.
547,945
hungry kids fed three meals a day for a whole year
No Kid Hungry: $1 can help provide 10 meals for kids. Three meals a day for 365 days is 1,095 meals, about $110 per child per year. Source
3,362
years of rent for a homeless veteran
At the U.S. median rent of $1,487 a month (Census, 2024), about $17,844 a year. Source
10,909
lives saved from malaria, most of them children under five
GiveWell estimates its top charities save a life for $3,000 to $5,500. We use the higher figure: $5,500, the cost through Against Malaria Foundation bed nets. Source
Or: 1.5 million people given clean drinking water; 1,681 families escaping domestic violence given a safe home for two years. Every rate and source.
Stephen Deckoff
$60 million
For everyone else, that's
Could have fed 547,945 hungry kids for a whole year.
Drag the seam between the two worlds.
Measured against a typical American household: $87,460 a year, $192,900 net worth.
The receipts
- NPR, May 2023
- Bloomberg, May 2023
- Net worth: Founder of Black Diamond Capital Management; no published estimate used
- U.S. Census Bureau, Income in the United States: 2025 (Sept 2026)
- Federal Reserve, Survey of Consumer Finances 2022
- No Kid Hungry, What your dollars can do
- GiveWell, How much does it cost to save a life?
- charity: water, How much clean water will my donation provide
- U.S. DOJ Office on Violence Against Women, Transitional housing
- U.S. Census Bureau median gross rent, via USAFacts
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