--- alias: - Gratitude America, Ltd. - Gratitude America Ltd - Gratitude America, Ltd - Gratitude America, Inc. category: Private Organization created: 2026-09-25 location: St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands relations: - end: 2016-01 fn: 2 reverse: true role: resignation reported to Deutsche Bank by his accountant in January 2016 type: director_of with: '[[Jeffrey Epstein]]' - end: 2016 fn: 11 role: quarterly payments of 37,500 dollars for a one-year advisory board term start: 2016 type: funded with: '[[Leon Botstein]]' start: 2012 summary: Jeffrey Epstein's St. Thomas private foundation, recognized by the IRS in 2012, which took 10 million dollars from Leon Black in 2015 and paid Bard president Leon Botstein 150,000 dollars in 2016. tags: - Organization - JeffreyEpstein - GratitudeAmerica - PrivateFoundation - VirginIslands - LeonBlack - DeutscheBank - Philanthropy updated: 2026-09-25 --- Gratitude America, Ltd. is a tax-exempt private foundation in [St. Thomas](/places/st-thomas/), [U.S. Virgin Islands](/places/us-virgin-islands/), described by the New York State Department of Financial Services as "Mr. Epstein's private charity." The [Internal Revenue Service](/organizations/internal-revenue-service/) recognized it in September 2012, four years after [Jeffrey Epstein](/people/jeffrey-epstein/)'s Florida guilty plea, and its filings are addressed in care of the St. Thomas lawyer [Erika Kellerhals](/people/erika-kellerhals/). It reported almost no assets until 2015, when it received 10,003,000 dollars in contributions, 10 million of them from [Leon Black](/people/leon-black/). In 2016 it paid [Leon Botstein](/people/leon-botstein/), president of [Bard College](/organizations/bard-college/), 37,500 dollars a quarter from an account at [Deutsche Bank](/organizations/deutsche-bank/) Trust Company Americas, and it still reported about 8.2 million dollars in assets in its filing for 2022.[^1][^2][^3][^4] ### Formation and Filings The foundation's IRS record lists it as Gratitude America Ltd, employer identification number 66-0789697, a section 501(c)(3) private foundation with a ruling date of September 2012, at 9053 Estate Thomas, Suite 101, St. Thomas, in care of Erika Kellerhals. Its Form 990-PF returns for 2012, 2013 and 2014 reported revenue and assets of one dollar. For 2015 it reported gross contributions of 10,003,000 dollars, total revenue of 10,007,332 dollars, expenses of 768 dollars and year-end assets of 10,006,564 dollars. For 2019, the year of Epstein's death, it reported revenue of 242,470 dollars, mostly investment income and capital gains, grants of 110,000 dollars and assets of 8,184,284 dollars; its returns for 2020 through 2022 each reported assets of 8,175,884 dollars and no grants.[^1] Kellerhals testified with Epstein at the November 2012 [Economic Development Commission](/organizations/economic-development-commission/) hearing on the tax-incentive application of [Southern Trust Company](/organizations/southern-trust-company/), and was a trustee of Epstein's Butterfly Trust; in September 2012 Epstein paid Southern Trust's 5,000 dollar application fee by wire from [JPMorgan Chase](/organizations/jpmorgan-chase/) to Kellerhals Ferguson LLP.[^5][^6][^7] The [Government of the United States Virgin Islands](/organizations/government-of-the-united-states-virgin-islands/), in its 2022 complaint against Epstein's estate, listed "Gratitude America, Inc." among the entities of which [Darren Indyke](/people/darren-indyke/) or [Richard Kahn](/people/richard-kahn/), "frequently both," were officers or directors.[^8] ### The Black Donation The review of Black's dealings with Epstein that the law firm [Dechert](/organizations/dechert/) prepared for [Apollo Global Management](/organizations/apollo-global-management/) in January 2021 found that "Black also made a $10 million donation to Gratitude America in October 2015, which was a charitable organization affiliated with Epstein," and that Black "felt comfortable making this donation because he understood that Epstein was a strong proponent of scientific innovation." Dechert also found an August 21, 2015 letter from Gratitude America thanking Black for a 5 million dollar donation, confirmed in an email from Epstein to Black, but "did not find any document prepared by Black or the Family Office confirming this donation or any bank record reflecting such payment."[^3] *BuzzFeed News* reported in 2019 that the foundation's 2015 IRS filing showed a 10 million dollar transfer from a company called BV70, which shared an address with Black's family investment office; BV70 LLC was also the entity through which Black lent Epstein 30.5 million dollars in 2017.[^3][^9] In the same year Black was paying Southern Trust 30 million dollars for tax and estate advice.[^3] ### Deutsche Bank and the Botstein Checks On January 4, 2016 an accountant for Epstein asked Deutsche Bank to open a brokerage account for Gratitude America. When the bank's reputational risk committee ordered an external due-diligence report on Epstein, the accountant "informed the Bank of Mr. Epstein's resignation from Gratitude America and withdrew the request to open the account. As a result, no due diligence report was run on Mr. Epstein."[^2] Checks of "Gratitude America, Ltd," with an account address in New York, New York 10154, were drawn on Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas during 2016 and were later produced by the bank to the federal grand jury in New York. One, dated August 1, 2016, paid 37,500 dollars to Leon Botstein, with the memo "Leon Botstein, Bard College, 30 Campus Road, Annandale-On-Hudson, NY 12504, 3rd Quarterly Payment of 4."[^4] Bard confirmed in May 2023 that Botstein received 150,000 dollars from the foundation in 2016 for a one-year term on its advisory board "as an expert in music," and said he gave the full amount to Bard the same year as part of a one million dollar gift. Botstein said, "I didn't benefit personally at all," and that he had not recalled the payments when earlier asked about Epstein's gifts because "the contract was signed by someone else."[^10][^11] ### Other Grantees Gratitude America was listed with the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation and the C.O.U.Q. Foundation among the funders of [John Brockman](/people/john-brockman/)'s [Edge Foundation](/organizations/edge-foundation/); financial records reviewed by *BuzzFeed News* showed that the Epstein entities together provided 638,000 dollars of the roughly 857,000 dollars Edge received from 2001 to 2017.[^12] In June 2026 Representative Jamie Raskin, ranking Democrat on the [House Judiciary Committee](/organizations/house-committee-on-the-judiciary/), asked Bard for all records of payments from a list of Epstein-linked entities that included "Gratitude America Ltd.," the Butterfly Trust, Southern Trust Company, Inc., Southern Financial LLC, Plan D, LLC and the "Haze Trust."[^13] [^1]: Internal Revenue Service, Form 990-PF data for Gratitude America Ltd, EIN 66-0789697, tax years 2012 to 2022, and IRS Business Master File record (ruling date September 2012; in care of Erika Kellerhals, 9053 Estate Thomas Suite 101, St. Thomas), as indexed by ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/660789697 [^2]: New York State Department of Financial Services, In the Matter of Deutsche Bank AG, Deutsche Bank AG New York Branch, and Deutsche Bank Trust Company of the Americas, Consent Order Under New York Banking Law sections 39 and 44 (executed July 6, 2020), para. 44. https://www.dfs.ny.gov/industry_guidance/enforcement_discipline/ea20200706_deutsche_bank [^3]: Dechert LLP, Memorandum to the Apollo Conflicts Committee, "Investigation of Epstein/Black Relationship and Any Relationship Between Epstein and Apollo Global Management, Inc.," January 22, 2021, pp. 16-19 and note 4, filed as Exhibit 99.1 to Apollo Global Management, Inc., Form 8-K (January 25, 2021). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1411494/000119312521016405/d118102dex991.htm [^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01348714, DataSet 10, check of Gratitude America, Ltd drawn on Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas to Leon Botstein, August 1, 2016. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01348714.pdf [^5]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Darren K. Indyke et al., No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint (filed November 30, 2022), paragraphs 157 to 176; reproduced as ECF No. 1-1 in Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y., filed December 27, 2022). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf [^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01364303, DataSet 10, Deutsche Bank know-your-customer page "The 2013 Butterfly Trust" (DB-SDNY-0054829). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01364303.pdf [^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01580553, DataSet 10, memorandum from Harry Beller to JPMorgan wire desk, September 21, 2012 (JPM-SDNY-00059908). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01580553.pdf [^8]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Darren K. Indyke et al., No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint (filed November 30, 2022), paragraph 80; reproduced as ECF No. 1-1 in No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf [^9]: Aldhous, Peter. "Jeffrey Epstein's Links To Scientists Are Even More Extensive Than We Thought," *BuzzFeed News,* August 27, 2019. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-epstein-science-donations-apologies-statements [^10]: Scott Jaschik, "Leon Botstein received $150,000 from Jeffrey Epstein," *Inside Higher Ed,* May 18, 2023. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2023/05/18/leon-botstein-received-150000-jeffrey-epstein [^11]: Victor Feldman, "Bard's Botstein Received $150,000 from Jeffrey Epstein Charity But Promptly Donated it to the College, School Confirms," *The Daily Catch,* May 18, 2023. https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/bards-botstein-received-150000-from-epstein-charity-but-promptly-donated-it-to-the-college-school-confirms/ [^12]: Aldhous, Peter. "How Jeffrey Epstein Bankrolled The Exclusive Edge Foundation And Reaped The Benefits," *BuzzFeed News,* 2019. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-epstein-john-brockman-edge-foundation [^13]: Letter from Representative Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member, House Committee on the Judiciary, to James Cox Chambers, Chair, Board of Trustees, Bard College, June 17, 2026, p. 7. https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2026-06-17-raskin-to-chambers-bard-re-epstein.pdf