Newly released Department of Justice (DOJ) documents reveal that David Stern, a close advisor to former Prince Andrew, actively pitched convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on numerous electric vehicle (EV) startup investments, including Lucid Motors, Faraday Future, and Canoo. These disclosures offer a rare glimpse into the extensive business dealings between Stern and Epstein, spanning nearly a decade until Epstein's arrest in 2019.

In 2017, as EV startup Lucid Motors struggled to secure a Series D funding round, Stern identified an opportunity for Epstein to intervene. Lucid had been courting Ford as a lead investor, but rival Faraday Future founder Jia Yueting had quietly amassed a significant 30% stake, effectively blocking new capital. Stern saw Epstein as a potential solution to this deadlock.

"Ford will likely be lead in $400m Series D in Lucid. Big strategic move," Stern wrote to Epstein in emails released last week as part of the DOJ's disclosure of 3 million documents. He added that Jia was facing "massive cash issues" at Faraday and needed to "sell now to make payroll for his other business." This wasn't the first or last EV startup Stern would pitch to Epstein, according to hundreds of documents reviewed by TechCrunch.

During that period, the electric and autonomous vehicle sector was booming, fueled by Tesla's success and Google's self-driving project. Stern appeared eager to capitalize on the resulting investment opportunities. The documents indicate he also proposed investments in Faraday Future itself and another EV startup, Canoo.

However, it is unlikely Epstein invested in any of these ventures. Lucid ultimately closed its Series D in late 2018 with over $1 billion from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund. Faraday Future secured a major investment from Chinese real estate conglomerate Evergrande in late 2017. Epstein himself stated in a 2018 message within the Justice Department's files that he had no "direct" or "indirect" interest in Canoo.

These discussions provide valuable insight into the many connections Epstein had with Silicon Valley startups before his death in 2019. They also shed light on a relationship between Stern and Epstein that had not been extensively reported previously.

By the time of the Lucid emails, Epstein and Stern had been working closely for almost a decade. Epstein referred to Stern as "my china contact," while Stern described Epstein as "my mentor, and I do what he tells me."

A 'Ghost' of a Businessman

David Stern remains largely an enigma online, with little public information available about him prior to the release of these files. He is perhaps best known as the director of Prince Andrew's Pitch@Palace startup contest, which ceased operations after Andrew's connections to Epstein were exposed. Prince Andrew himself once referred to Stern as a "ghost" in a 2010 email.

Stern reportedly first contacted Epstein in 2008, just one month before the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida. Stern was establishing a fund called AGC Capital to leverage China's economic growth and sought Epstein's investment. It remains unclear how their initial introduction occurred, and Stern did not respond to inquiries for this article.

A German national, Stern studied at the University of London and Shi-Da University in China in the late 1990s. His bio in the AGC Capital pitch deck, found in the DOJ files, states he served as chairman of Millenium Capital China, the Chinese arm of Millennium Capital Partners.

Stern also worked for Siemens, negotiating "industrial Joint Ventures with Chinese State Owned enterprises," before joining Deutsche Bank's Shanghai office. In 2001, he founded Asia Gateway, a company that "advised blue chip companies, Chinese enterprises as well as the Chinese government in growth strategies and investments." These roles seemingly helped Stern cultivate connections with influential and wealthy Chinese businessmen, including Li Botan, the son-in-law of a high-ranking Chinese leader under Hu Jintao's presidency. Li would later become a founding investor in Canoo alongside Stern.

It is uncertain whether Epstein invested in AGC Capital, as he spent the following year serving his sentence. Nevertheless, Stern and Epstein maintained contact, and by 2009, Stern began pitching other business concepts.

The documents illustrate a relationship that began formally, with Epstein at one point scolding Stern for inadequate preparation on a potential deal. "If you want to do real deals you have to be precise and careful… every error is a fortune," Epstein wrote, adding, "Your first grade is an F."

One of their initial major collaborations involved assisting the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, with her financial difficulties, according to the emails.

Their relationship deepened over the next decade. By 2016, Stern felt comfortable enough to ask Epstein to be the godfather to one of his children. Epstein, though "flattered," declined, citing a promise to his goddaughter not to be a godfather to anyone else.

The business outcomes of their partnership are less clear, but between 2009 and 2019, Stern presented Epstein with numerous potential deals across various industries. Early on, he seemed determined to establish a "secret" new fund with Epstein to invest in Chinese businesses, referred to as JEDS (combining their initials) or "Serpentine Group." Later, Stern pitched buying farmland in Russia, suggested acquiring news organization Al-Jazeera and taking it public, discussed purchasing troubled music publisher EMI, and considered acquiring an unnamed, distressed undersea cable company.

They also targeted the banking sector. Stern and Epstein attempted to buy Luxembourg-headquartered private bank Sal. Oppenheim, emails show. In 2016, they even discussed a buyout of Deutsche Bank, which had a long-standing transactional relationship with Epstein.

Stern frequently highlighted his connections with high-profile businessmen and politicians in his communications with Epstein and other contacts. In February 2012, Stern suggested Epstein introduce Jes Staley, then head of J.P. Morgan's investment bank, to Malaysian politician Anwar Ibrahim. "I know Anwar well," Stern wrote. "If he becomes prime minister of malayisa [Staley] will clean up and it could be a gold mine for JPM." Ibrahim lost a contested election in 2013 but became prime minister in 2022.

Stern also claimed to have had dinner with Jack Ma, a planned "alone" meeting with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and stated he was "friends" with the grandson of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

Going Electric

By 2017, Stern's focus had evidently shifted to the burgeoning mobility sector.

He attempted to arrange a meeting between Epstein and Faraday Future founder Jia Yueting to discuss an investment. Whether this meeting ever took place is unclear; neither the company nor Jia responded to requests for comment.

However, Stefan Krause, former BMW and Deutsche Bank CFO, who had been brought in to rescue Faraday Future, made a direct appeal to Epstein in April 2017. "Faraday Future (FF) is a great story in itself, regretfully surrounded by a lot of noise around Jia Yueting (YT) and his other enterprises (LeEco, LeMall, LeSports, to name a few). These businesses are not working, so he run out of cash. FF is starving," Krause wrote to Epstein. He saw it as a "Great chance to build a better Tesla." Krause, described in the documents as a "friend" and business partner of Stern's, also did not respond to comment requests.

These conversations seemingly fizzled out. Soon after, Stern proposed the Lucid Motors investment.

In May 2017, a pitch deck from a fund Stern had created, called Monstera, landed in Epstein's inbox. One slide indicated, "Monstera can gain a 32% shareholding in Lucid through the acquisition of the stake currently controlled by Yueting Jia." Other emails suggest Stern anticipated spending around $300 million to acquire this 32% stake. He referred to it as a "fire sale" in emails, suggesting Monstera could either hold the position or "offload" it "when Ford comes in."

Ford ultimately pulled out, and Lucid's Series D wasn't finalized until August 2018, when Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund injected over $1 billion. SEC filings indicate the Saudi sovereign wealth fund repurchased Jia's shares over the subsequent years. Lucid did not respond to a request for comment.

When Krause departed Faraday Future in late 2017 to launch a new EV company, initially named Evelozcity and later Canoo, Stern was among the original backers. He contributed $1 million, complementing larger investments from Li Botan, the CCP-connected Chinese businessman, and Michael Chiang, a billionaire who leads Taiwanese electronics giant TPK. Li's involvement later triggered a national security review when Canoo went public in 2020.

In June 2018, Stern sent Epstein a document about the startup, to which Epstein simply responded: "fun."

Despite this, Epstein never invested in Canoo. He did, however, advocate for Stern's ventures to powerful individuals. In May 2018, Epstein emailed Deepak Chopra, telling the self-help guru that "david has a new electric car co in los angeles." He suggested to Chopra that "they are going to build the next gen health sensors into the car. you guys should talk."

In June 2019, Epstein messaged Eduardo Teodorani, an Italian businessman and senior vice president at agriculture machinery giant CNH. "My friend David stern… has a electric car co that I think you should explore before he sells it to another co," Epstein wrote. Epstein also connected Stern with Sheikh Jabor al Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family, on June 29, so he could "hear more about your car co."

One week after sending that message, Epstein was arrested. He died in prison a month later.

The exact date of Stern's last communication with Epstein is unclear. However, in March 2019, he forwarded a story to Epstein titled: "Warren Buffet: Electric Cars Are Very Much in America's Future." In the body of the email, Stern wrote: "How do we get him ??"