Leon Black ’73, a former client of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, pledged to donate $500,000 to renovations for the President’s House at Dartmouth and more than $350,000 to Jewish studies programs, according to a 2014 financial summary from the College recently released by the Department of Justice.
Newly released files also indicate that Epstein was involved in managing Black’s financial contributions to the College.
Black, who served on Dartmouth’s Board of Trustees from 2002 to 2011, has been accused of sexual abuse and rape from multiple women. It is well known that Black and Epstein maintained a relationship: Black paid Epstein $170 million for tax and estate planning services between 2012 and 2017, after Epstein was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor, according to previous reporting by The Dartmouth. Epstein also served as an original trustee and director of Black’s family foundation until 2007.
The Black Family Visual Arts Center in the heart of campus still bears Black’s name, after a $48 million donation to Dartmouth in 2012 to fund the center’s construction. College spokesperson Kathryn Kennedy declined to comment on whether the College has plans to change the building’s name.
This comes as part of the national scrutiny over the Epstein files, the Department of Justice’s recent release of millions of documents detailing the activities of Epstein and his affiliates.
As of the statement’s issuing on May 27, 2014, Black had paid $300,000 of the scheduled contributions to the President’s House. College spokesperson Jana Barnello wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth that Black was “one of more than a dozen donors” who contributed to a fund used to renovate the President’s House. Barnello declined a request for further comment on the fund and renovations.
Barnello wrote in a November 2025 email statement to The Dartmouth that the College has “no current financial relationship” with Black.
Other recently released documents detail Epstein’s involvement in Black’s financial commitments to the College. In one email to Black’s former assistant, Epstein wrote, “the stock should be put in the foundation. then dartmouth,” files show.
Epstein also communicated with employees at Black’s wealth management company Elysium Management about Black’s donations to the College. In a 2014 email to Elysium general counsel, Epstein wrote, “do you have the pldge agreement for dartmounth?”
In another email to Elysium employees, Epstein wrote, “lets confirm gifts to museums, pledges dartmouth etc.”
A spokesperson for Black wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth that Epstein reviewed documents about Black’s financial contributions to Dartmouth “in his capacity as an advisor to Mr. Black on tax and estate planning matters.”
Dartmouth senior vice president of advancement Robert Lasher wrote in a 2021 email statement to The Dartmouth that the College found no evidence that Epstein “played a role in any gift to Dartmouth.”
Lasher did not respond to another request for comment. Kennedy declined to comment on Epstein’s involvement in Black’s contributions.
Epstein later pleaded not guilty to one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors before he was found dead in a federal detention facility in 2019.
Black has denied accusations that he raped a 16-year-old girl with autism and Down Syndrome, sexually harassed and abused Guzel Ganieva over seven years and raped Cheri Pierson in Epstein’s home, according to previous reporting from The Dartmouth.
Update Appended (Feb. 26, 7:42 a.m.): The headline of the article was edited to include the time of Black’s donation.
Kelsey Wang is a reporter and editor for The Dartmouth from the greater Seattle area, majoring in history and government. Outside of The D, she likes to crochet, do jigsaw puzzles and paint.
