David Enrich

Within a few years, he has been named a limited partner, which means that he is getting paid boatloads of money at that point, something like $800,000 in today's dollars.

And yet the problems still keep bubbling up.

And Epstein was found to abuse his expense account.

He took a work trip to the Caribbean and charged Bear Stearns something like $10,000 on jewelry and clothing for his girlfriend.

So this is after he was dating the boss's daughter.

Mm-hmm.

Another thing is that it turns out that he has been helping his girlfriend get early access to lucrative investment deals at Bear Stearns, which is a violation certainly of the company's rules, if not the law.

And he's helping his high school friend get a loan to buy securities at Bear Stearns, which is also a violation of company policies, if not the law.

And eventually Bear Stearns gets wind of this and starts investigating.

And Epstein is kind of headed for a slap on the wrist.

He's likely to pay a financial penalty and also be suspended for a couple of months.

And instead of suffering that indignity, he decides to resign, saying that he's been deeply offended by the fact that he was even being investigated.

So one of the many things he learned at Bear Stearns through this network of acquaintances and colleagues that he built up was basically how to act and behave as a really rich person.

It's both.

It is what fork to use.

It's how to dress appropriately, how to introduce yourself to a member of royalty or to a senior politician.

But it's also to have the confidence that he belongs in these settings, in these rooms with rich and powerful people.

And that immediately pays dividends for him.

A former Bear Stearns colleague introduces him to a guy named Michael Stroll, who is a video game executive.

And Epstein persuades Stroll to hand him $450,000, which is about 10% of Stroll's net worth, to invest in what Epstein claims is an oil deal.