Epstein died in a New York prison cell on 10 August 2019 as he awaited, without the chance of bail, his trial on sex trafficking charges.
It came more than a decade after his conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor, for which he was registered as a sex offender.
This time, he was accused of running a "vast network" of underage girls for sex. He pleaded not guilty.
In November 2025, both chambers of US Congress overwhelmingly approved the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Soon afterwards, President Donald Trump signed the bill that ordered the justice department to release by 19 December all its files from the criminal investigations that took place into Epstein.
Some, but not all, material was published on deadline day, and there were subsequent releases over the following weeks.
It is not clear whether the saga has now reached its conclusion. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said a release on 30 January represented "the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process".
But campaigners, including some opposition Democrats, argue that the department has withheld too many documents without proper justification.
The material that has so far been put into the public domain by the US authorities has shed light on the life of the late financier and his high-profile circle.
'Terrific guy'
Born and raised in New York, Epstein taught maths and physics in the city at the private Dalton School in the mid 1970s. He had studied physics and maths himself at university, although he never graduated.
A father of one of his students is said to have been so impressed that he put Epstein in touch with a senior partner at the Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns.
He was a partner there within four years. By 1982, he had created his own firm - J Epstein and Co.
The company managed assets of clients worth more than $1bn (£800m) and was an instant success. Epstein soon began spending his fortune - including on a mansion in Florida, a ranch in New Mexico, and reputedly the largest private home in New York - and socialising with celebrities, artists and politicians.
"I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy," Trump told New York magazine for a profile on Epstein in 2002. "He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."
"No doubt about it - Jeffrey enjoys his social life."
The president would later say that the two fell out in the early 2000s, years before Epstein was first arrested. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.
The White House said that Trump once kicked Epstein out of his club "decades ago for being a creep to his female employees".
Trump himself said Epstein "stole" young women who worked at his Mar-a-Lago beach club spa. "Once he did that, that was the end of him."
