Jeffrey Epstein’s links to corporate America may have been broader and more costly than investors might think.More than one in eight directors who served on S&P 500 boards between 2006 and 2026 appeared in the Epstein files, according to a new study, Him Too? Analysing the Effects of Epstein Connections. Strikingly, much of the contact took place after Epstein’s 2008 conviction.The study finds that Epstein acted as an important bridge between powerful people, creating a much more interconnected corporate world than would have existed without him, especially in the financial and technology sectors.Perhaps unsurprisingly, boards with Epstein-linked directors had more ESG (environmental, social and governance) incidents. These declined sharply after those directors left or died, suggesting “tainted” directors played a direct role in companies’ ethical and legal problems.As for investors, the key moment came when these links were made public following the release of the Epstein files in early 2026. Companies linked to Epstein underperformed by 8.5 per cent over the following 10 trading days, resulting in an estimated $3.23 billion hit for the median S&P 500 firm.Clearly, investors punished the companies they knew about, but what about the ones they don’t? The authors note journalists “naturally focus on the most prominent and newsworthy connections”, so coverage only “captures the tip of the iceberg”. They estimate only about a quarter of connected firms featured in news reports, implying much of the fallout may not have been priced in.The market swiftly punished companies whose ties to Epstein became public, but if most connections remain largely unexplored, reputational risk may still be hiding in plain sight.