On July 18, 2012, Jeffrey Epstein sent an email that read: “I consider you a friend, it is the reverse of dantes circle , girlfriends wives„ children„ all take second place [sic].” It was addressed to Richard Saul Wurman, an architect who cofounded the TED conference series. Wurman replied: “SO TRUE AND ELEGANT. IT SO OFTEN FROM THE OPPOSITE OF EXPECTATION THAT CLARITY ARISES. [sic]”
At the time they appeared to be negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding between the financier and a conference Wurman established that was to take place that September.
These are two of more than 1,200 search results for “Richard Saul Wurman” in Epstein’s email cache released by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on January 30.
These exchanges appear to suggest a relationship between Wurman and Epstein. Wurman did not respond to AN’s requests for comment.
Apparent communication between Wurman, Epstein, and their respective associates and assistants shows Epstein’s connections with TED, as well as subsequent productions Wurman launched, including the WWW Conference and 555 Conference.
The appearances of names and entities in these communications is correspondence and is not necessarily evidence of wrongdoing. AN is reporting on the material as supplied by the DOJ, which has not been authenticated by another source.
Who is Richard Saul Wurman?
Wurman is known for gathering experts for cross-disciplinary conversation, most prominently through the long-running TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference. He once described TED as “the dinner party I always wanted to have but never did.”
Born in Philadelphia in 1935, Wurman studied architecture at University of Pennsylvania under Louis Kahn and graduated from Penn in 1959.
In 1963, Wurman cofounded his own architecture practice, Murphy Levy Wurman, with two fellow Penn graduates. Wurman has written numerous books, including guidebooks and two publications about Louis Kahn. He coined the term “information architecture.”
In 1976, Wurman was elevated to Fellowship stature within the AIA and earned an AIGA Gold Medal in 2004. He received a lifetime achievement award from Cooper Hewitt in 2012.
Wurman founded TED in 1984 with Harry Marks as a forum to create exchange between Silicon Valley designers, venture capitalists, and technologists. Wurman also ran TEDMED, a healthcare-industry TED spin-off, from 1995 through 2010.
Wurman sold TED in 2001 for $14 million to Chris Anderson in order to focus on other ventures, namely the WWW Conference Wurman founded in 2012 and the 555 Conference, which he created in 2014.
Wurman turned 90-years-old last year and celebrated in January 2026 with a 3-day conference in Miami Beach titled Wurman Shoulders Weekend in which speakers shared about their mentors.
Guests included Nicholas Negroponte, Sanjay Gupta, Bobby Brown, Matt Groening, Kara Swisher, and Stefan Sagmeister, among others. It was billed as “Richard Saul Wurman has one last conversation before he dies.”
JE and TED
Email exchanges between Wurman and Epstein date back to at least 2011. Wurman emailed Epstein’s assistant, Lesley Groff, on April 1, 2011, about arranging Wurman’s visit to “Little Jeff Isle,” in Wurman’s words, which suggests that Wurman may have made plans to visit Little Saint James.
On March 6, 2011, Nathan Myrvold, former Microsoft CTO and chef, emailed a set of photos from a TED gathering to Epstein. “I think they turned out pretty good,” he wrote. In another email dated June 27, 2011, Epstein was invited to RSVP for a TED party.
A spokesperson for TED told AN: “Jeffrey Epstein was not invited or welcome to attend the TED Conference in or after 2008.” That was the year Epstein was convicted in Florida of soliciting a prostitute and procuring a minor for prostitution in 2005.
“[Epstein] made a number of attempts to get access to the TED Conference after that time and was denied,” the spokesperson said. “However, as is common at high profile convenings, satellite events are often held that are outside of the official TED program with no participation from the TED organization.”
Money Talk
Epstein agreed to write Wurman a $100,000 check in 2012 to finance the initial WWW Conference in Red Bank, California, according to an email dated August 21 of that same year.
The DOJ files include an invoice for $100,000, dated on August 6, 2012, and payable to Wurman, Inc. It is not confirmed if the check was ever sent or cashed.
The transaction to financially support Wurman appeared to be facilitated over email by Richard Kahn of HBRK Associates. Other correspondence shows that Kahn also coordinated projects by Gensler and other architects on Little St. James Island for Epstein.
Back and Forth
On October 15, 2013, Wurman emailed Epstein: “Need more of you than a 30 min quickie.”
Via an email dated February 25, 2013, Epstein was invited to a TED party by Wurman’s assistant. The cocktail party was at Pikes Hotel in Ibiza, Spain.
In a March 10, 2014 email, Wurman reminded Epstein’s assistant to have Epstein RSVP for a TED party: “reminder: we need to RSVP to Brockman’s TED party by March 10,” Wurman said.
Brockman here is John Brockman, a literary agent who hosted “sumptuous dinners [and] exclusive conferences … for the rich, the smart, and the powerful” financed by Epstein and others, according to The Guardian. Brockman was also the publisher and editor of edge.org.
In a 2016 email, Wurman asked Epstein’s assistant to inquire about sharing the manuscript of a work in progress: “Wanted to show [Epstein] first half of new book about 340 pages. [sic]”
The last correspondence between Wurman and Epstein in the DOJ emails cache is from 2017. On January 16, 2017, Wurman emailed Epstein: “HBD- Happy Birthday I assume!” Epstein was arrested in July 2019 and died the following month.