'Cow to slaughter': Epstein strongly advised Saudi Arabia against 2018 Aramco Wall Street IPO

Jeffrey Epstein advised senior Saudi officials against the state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco's planned 2018 IPO, an analysis by The New Arab of recently released emails has found.

Emails released by the US Department of Justice show that from 2016, Epstein frequently communicated with Saudi royal advisor Raafat Al-Sabbagh and Aziza Al-Ahmadi, another advisor to the kingdom about Aramco and the future of Saudi Arabia's economy.

Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), then Deputy Crown Prince, first spoke publicly about selling of parts of Aramco in January 2016. Saudi officials expected the company to be valued at $2 trillion, and investors thought it would be one of the biggest IPOs in stock market history. 

Talk of an IPO for the ninety-year-old oil giant came shortly after MbS, son of King Salman bin Abdulaziz, became Deputy Crown Prince.

Then in April 2016, bin Salman announced Vision 2030, an initiative to diversify and reform Saudi Arabia's economy, society and culture. 

Based on recently released documents, Epstein first discussed Aramco in an email sent to Al-Sabbagh on 26 May, 2016. Epstein suggested that, rather than selling parts of Aramco, Saudi Arabia should form a new currency based on oil.

Other documents show Al-Sabbagh was in the US at the time of this initial email and met Epstein the following day. He also tried to arrange a meeting with Al-Sabbagh's unnamed 'boss', to whom the pair often refer in their communications.  Though this boss is not named, later communications suggest the pair may be referring to the then Deputy Crown Prince.

Epstein's communications with the Saudi official started long after he pleaded guilty to sexual offences against a minor. Though the full extent of Epstein's crimes was not publicly known at the time, messages from Al-Sabbagh suggest he maye have been aware of his reputation. 

In one message from 2016, Al-Sabbagh said to Epstein, "I am sure you are opening so many legs" in Florida. In another, Al-Sabbagh sent a link to a news article titled, "Russian Beauty Queen Flees to Dubai to Sell Her Virginity for $13,000." Epstein responded, "finally you send me something worthwhile." 

In August of that year, Epstein worked with Aziza Al-Ahmadi, a UAE businesswoman advising some Saudi government departments, to draft a letter to an unnamed person about the Kingdom's finances. Epstein said foreign investors would see an Aramco IPO as "taking a cow to slaughter," adding "shareholders are the last thing the kingdom needs." Instead, Epstein says Aramco's oil should be exchanged for "land, knowledge and currencies."

It's unclear who the intended recipient of this letter was, or indeed if it was sent. However, in October 2017, Epstein and Al-Ahmadi once again worked on a similar letter containing advice about Saudi Arabia's finances, this time explicitly to Mohammed bin Salman, now the Kingdom's Crown Prince.

In this letter, Epstein describes the IPO as "silly," saying a public listing would make Aramco's valuation volatile. He instead suggests selling options to China, or forming a "shariar [SIC] compliant" digital currency.

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By the time Epstein wrote this second letter, plans for Aramco's IPO were clearer. Five per cent of the company would be sold at a valuation of $2 trillion in a listing planned for 2018.

The London and New York stock exchanges were vying to host the IPO. Major banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and HSBC, were acting as financial advisors. Yet Epstein repeatedly expressed his scepticism both to Saudi officials and to outside sources.

A key concern for Epstein was the potential for Aramco shares to serve as collateral in a lawsuit against the Kingdom. In September 2016, the US Congress passed the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), which allowed foreign states to be sued in US courts for acts of terrorism. 

The law was backdated to allow lawsuits for acts of terrorism from September 11, 2001, the date of attacks on the US by the terrorist group al-Qaeda, onwards. This was seen as opening Saudi Arabia up to liability due to allegations that the Saudi government were involved in the attacks, including by funding al-Qaeda. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly denied having any involvement in the attacks though 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens.

In an email sent to Aziza Al-Ahmadi and former UN official, Terje Rod-Larsen, Epstein says it would be a "nightmare" if a lawsuit were brought against Saudi Arabia while Aramco was public.

As Epstein was communicating directly with Saudi officials, he was also discussing Aramco's IPO with other sources. From 2017 onwards, he shared news articles about the listing with several people, including Terje Rod-Larson, and former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon.

Though Epstein typically shared links without comment, replies to his emails suggest he often spoke about the Aramco IPO.  In response to an August 2018 email with a link to a news story saying the IPO had been cancelled, former Kuwaiti Information Minister Anas Al-Rasheed said, "this was your opinion too."

Replying to a September 2018 email from Epstein saying Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund was borrowing money, then-New York Times journalist Landon Thomas Jr. said, "Why didn't MbS listen to you?

From August 2018 until Epstein's death the following August, there was little news about the IPO coming from Saudi Arabia.

Epstein continued discussing the listing with third parties, but after the 2018 cancellation, Epstein spoke to Raafat Al-Sabbagh about Aramco just once more before his death. On 8 April 2019, Epstein shared a link to a news story about Aramco selling bonds, to Al-Sabbagh, saying, "my idea from day one." Epstein was by then under investigation by the FBI.

Aramco was eventually listed on the Saudi stock exchange in November 2019, three months after Epstein's death. The company fell short of it's $2 trillion valuation, though it was the largest IPO in the stock market's history.

In the years since the IPO, Aramco briefly became the most valuable company in the world, after European sanctions hit Russia's oil industry following the country's invasion of Ukraine. Since then, the company's value has fallen by $800 billion, and its share price reached an all-time low in September 2025.

A class action lawsuit against Saudi Arabia by 9/11 survivors has been ongoing since March 2017, but in the nine years since it was issued, the court has been reluctant to find in the defendants' favour.

Saudi officials have previously denied Epstein advised the government on financial matters. Following the recent releases, they have decliend to respond to comments when approached by various media outlets.

On Friday, the Epstein scandal engulfed one of the biggest names in Gulf business, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, CEO of DP World. 

Dubai's DP World named a new chairman and chief executive officer on Friday, replacing its former leader Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, after the Epstein files revealed frequent correspondence between him and the convicted sex offender.