Ghislaine Maxwell: From British heiress to convicted sex offender – net worth, Epstein ties and more
Once a fixture of elite social circles in London and New York,
Ghislaine Maxwell
now serves a 20-year prison sentence for her role in
Jeffrey Epstein
's sex-trafficking network. Her life has spanned from the lavish halls of Oxford and royal palaces to a 6-by-9-foot prison cell, as one of the most enigmatic and controversial figures linked to the Epstein scandal.
Born into privilege
Ghislaine Maxwell was born on December 25, 1961, into one of Britain's most influential families. Her father, Robert Maxwell, was a Czech-born British media mogul and Member of Parliament who built a publishing empire that included the Daily Mirror and Macmillan. Her mother, Betty, was a French scholar and Holocaust researcher. Ghislaine was the youngest of nine siblings and reportedly her father's favorite.
Educated at Marlborough College, Ghislaine went on to study modern history and languages at Balliol College, Oxford University.
Fluent in several languages, she was often described as poised, intelligent, and deeply ambitious.
Beginning of an end
On November 5, 1991, Robert Maxwell was found dead, floating near his yacht, the Lady Ghislaine, off the Canary Islands. His death was officially ruled accidental, but conspiracy theories persist.
After his death, it was revealed that Robert Maxwell had looted hundreds of millions of pounds from his companies' pension funds.
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His empire collapsed under debt, and the family's fortune was largely wiped out.
Source: X
Though devastated by the loss of her father, Ghislaine relocated permanently to New York City. There, she rebranded herself as a socialite and entrepreneur, eventually crossing paths with Jeffrey Epstein, a financier whose private wealth and connections would come to define the darkest chapter of her life.
Romantic relationships
Despite growing up in the shadow of her powerful father, Ghislaine Maxwell carved out a highly public personal life, often linked to influential men across business, aristocracy, and tech.
Count Gianfranco Cicogna (1980s)
In the 1980s, Ghislaine was linked to Count Gianfranco Cicogna, a member of Italian aristocracy and heir to a considerable fortune. Their relationship was well-documented in society pages in the UK, where she was a known presence on the party circuit.
Jeffrey Epstein (Early 1990s–2000s)
By the early 1990s, Maxwell had become closely involved with Jeffrey Epstein. According to The New York Times, 'she was Epstein's best friend, former girlfriend, and confidante.'
Though they were no longer romantically involved after the late 1990s, they continued to work and travel together extensively. Court filings later accused her of recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein's sexual abuse network.
Source: X
Ted Waitt (2004–2010)
Following the public distancing from Epstein, Maxwell dated Ted Waitt, founder of Gateway Inc., a PC company. Waitt was a billionaire and philanthropist, and the two were considered a power couple in the sustainability and oceanic conservation space.
In 2012, Waitt's foundation gave $10 million to The Scripps Institution of Oceanography, around the time Maxwell founded her own nonprofit, The TerraMar Project.
Their relationship quietly ended before 2011, and Maxwell retreated further from public view.
Scott Borgerson: The secret husband
Among the most enigmatic figures linked to Ghislaine Maxwell in her later years was Scott Borgerson, a tech entrepreneur and former CEO of the Boston-based shipping analytics firm CargoMetrics.
Maxwell and Borgerson reportedly met in 2013 through professional and philanthropic circles in Boston, and quickly developed a private relationship. Despite the growing legal scrutiny Maxwell faced due to her ties with Jeffrey Epstein, the couple managed to stay out of the public eye for several years, eventually settling into a home in the upscale seaside town of Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts.
Their relationship remained a mystery until Maxwell's July 2020 bail hearing, when her legal team revealed that she was secretly married to Borgerson.
The revelation stunned court observers and the public alike, not only because of Maxwell's sudden marital status but also because of how closely it intertwined with her legal circumstances. Court filings noted that Maxwell had transferred ownership of a 156-acre New Hampshire estate, where she was ultimately arrested by the FBI, to a company tied to Borgerson.
Borgerson, in an effort to support her bail application, submitted a letter to the court that painted a starkly different picture of Maxwell than the one dominating headlines: 'I have never witnessed anything close to inappropriate with Ghislaine.
Quite to the contrary, the Ghislaine I know is a wonderful and loving person,' he wrote.
Despite his public support, Borgerson largely retreated from view following Maxwell's arrest and subsequent criminal trial. In 2021, The Daily Mail reported that Borgerson had ended the relationship and was seen with another woman, although no formal divorce has been publicly confirmed. His name no longer appears in legal filings on her behalf, and his whereabouts, as well as the current state of their marriage, remain unclear.
Net worth
Maxwell's net worth has long been shrouded in secrecy. Although she was born into a fortune, most of Robert Maxwell's empire collapsed in debt.
During her bail hearings, Judge Alison Nathan stated Maxwell was a "flight risk" due to "opaque" finances and "undisclosed assets."
Court records revealed that between 2007 and 2011, over $20 million was transferred to her from Epstein-controlled offshore accounts. These funds came from various sources, including the sale of properties, like a Manhattan townhouse valued at $15 million.
Despite these transactions, her defense insisted she had no hidden wealth. In her 2020 bail application, she claimed assets worth just under $4 million, a figure prosecutors challenged.
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