Josh Harris Named in DOJ’s Epstein File Release: What We Know
Philadelphia 76ers managing partner and Washington Commanders majority owner Josh Harris has been named in newly unsealed documents released Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice related to Jeffrey Epstein. The files, part of a broader disclosure of Epstein’s communications and connections, include several email exchanges and at least one phone call between Harris and Epstein spanning from 2013 to 2016.
The documents, first reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer, do not suggest Harris was involved in any sexual misconduct. Instead, the correspondence points to a series of business-related interactions, including discussions around documents, payments, and a high-profile breakfast invitation at Epstein’s Manhattan estate in 2014.
That breakfast invite was no ordinary networking event. According to the emails, Epstein extended the invitation to Harris for a December 5 gathering that would include Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Marc Rowan (chair of the Wharton School’s board of advisors), tech investor Reid Hoffman, and Baron Capital founder Ron Baron. The tone of the invitation, as described in the documents, was casual but exclusive - “intimate… less than 6 people,” Epstein wrote.
Harris responded to the invitation in a November 2014 email, writing, “Sorry I missed you. Crazy week.
U around any time from now to Sunday? What’s this Bill Gates thing about?
Tks for thinking about me.” Epstein replied, “I thought you might like to schmooze… nothing but fun Friday 5th breakfast,” and asked Harris to give him a call.
While it remained unclear until now whether Harris actually attended the breakfast, the new documents include a follow-up email from Epstein roughly a week after the event, asking Harris if he “had fun at breakfast.” That message strongly suggests the meeting did take place.
In response to the release, a spokesperson for Harris told WJLA-TV (ABC 7 in Washington, D.C.):
“Josh Harris never had an independent relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Harris sought to prevent Epstein’s attempts to develop a corporate relationship with Apollo. As these emails indicate, Harris sought to avoid meeting with Epstein, canceling meetings and having others return his calls.”
Harris, who co-founded Apollo Global Management, appears in several of the documents alongside references to Leon Black, another Apollo co-founder. Black was ousted from his leadership role in 2021 following sexual misconduct allegations and a report that he paid Epstein $158 million for so-called “financial advice.”
Harris isn’t the only figure from the sports world mentioned in Friday’s release. New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch also appears in the documents. According to The Athletic, Epstein provided Tisch with reports on multiple women, though further details on the nature of those communications have not yet been made public.
This latest round of disclosures continues to peel back the layers of Epstein’s vast web of connections - a network that reached deep into the worlds of finance, tech, academia, and now, major American sports ownership. While there’s no indication Harris was involved in Epstein’s criminal activities, his name surfacing in these files raises questions about the extent of Epstein’s reach and the circles in which he operated.
For Harris, who has become one of the most prominent figures in American sports ownership through his roles with the Sixers, Commanders, and HBSE, the focus now turns to how this revelation is handled moving forward - both publicly and within the organizations he helps lead.