--- alias: - Stephen H. Deckoff - Steve Deckoff category: Business & Finance created: 2026-09-25 location: St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands relations: - fn: 1 role: founder and managing principal type: founded with: '[[Black Diamond Capital Management]]' - fn: 1 type: head_of with: '[[SD Investments]]' - fn: 1 role: through SD Investments start: 2023-05 type: owned with: '[[Little St. James]]' - fn: 1 role: through SD Investments start: 2023-05 type: owned with: '[[Great St. James]]' summary: Stephen Deckoff is the founder of Black Diamond Capital Management and a U.S. Virgin Islands resident since 2011 who bought Jeffrey Epstein's Little St. James and Great St. James from the estate in 2023. tags: - Person - Finance - HedgeFund - VirginIslands - JeffreyEpstein - Property - EconomicDevelopmentCommission updated: 2026-09-25 --- Stephen Deckoff is an American investor, founder and managing principal of the credit and distressed-investment firm Black Diamond Capital Management, and a resident of the [U.S. Virgin Islands](/places/us-virgin-islands/) since 2011. In May 2023 his firm SD Investments bought [Little St. James](/places/little-st-james/) and [Great St. James](/places/great-st-james/), the two islands off [St. Thomas](/places/st-thomas/) owned by [Jeffrey Epstein](/people/jeffrey-epstein/), from Epstein's estate for 60 million dollars, less than half the 125 million dollar asking price set in March 2022, announcing a 25-room luxury resort to open in 2025. As of February 2026 no resort had been built and the only construction permit he had sought was for a warehouse. Companies affiliated with Black Diamond have held tax benefits from the territory's [Economic Development Commission](/organizations/economic-development-commission/) since 2012, and a 2014 email in the [Epstein files](/concepts/epstein-files/) shows Epstein's accountant [Richard Kahn](/people/richard-kahn/) asking Epstein's pilot to look into the firm; Deckoff's name does not appear in the files, and it is unclear whether the two men had any association.[^1][^2][^3] ### Black Diamond Deckoff founded Black Diamond Capital Management, and in the SD Investments announcement described his career as "crafting and executing plans to turn distressed situations into successful enterprises, across numerous companies and industries." Black Diamond has related companies including Black Diamond Advisors and Black Diamond Holdings, both of which have received Economic Development Commission tax-incentive benefits since 2012, the same program under which Epstein's [Southern Trust Company](/organizations/southern-trust-company/) received its certificate. SD Investments said Deckoff had supported the territory's economic development after the back-to-back hurricanes of 2017 closed several of its resorts.[^1][^2] ### Epstein's Staff and Black Diamond, 2014 On May 16, 2014, Kahn asked Epstein's pilot [Larry Visoski](/people/larry-visoski/) to "poke around tonight about Black Diamond Trading," having heard that the company was trying to buy the St. Thomas Jet Center. "They appear to be an nyc hedge fund" with "an office in stt as an EDC company as well," Kahn wrote. "who are principals? type of plane? tail? anything else relevant." Visoski replied, "Here you go Rich ask and ye shall receive," supplied the tail number of the Black Diamond Learjet, said the aircraft would be arriving on St. Thomas soon, and asked, "can you ask if you want me to introduce myself?" Kahn forwarded the information to Epstein with links to Black Diamond Capital Management's website, told him that "Larry has obtained some good info on them," and asked whether Visoski should "meet the aircraft and poke around." Visoski was listed as sole manager of Plan D LLC, the Virgin Islands company that owned Epstein's Gulfstream, until a July 2019 filing named Epstein as its principal.[^2][^4] ### The Islands The Epstein estate listed the two islands in March 2022 at 125 million dollars. Under the estate's November 2022 settlement with the Virgin Islands government, half the proceeds of the Little St. James sale went to the territory, about 11 million dollars, and the estate was required to sell both islands to independent third parties and wind down its business in the territory. SD Investments announced the purchase on May 3, 2023. "I've been proud to call the U.S. Virgin Islands home for more than a decade and am tremendously pleased to be able to bring the area a world-class destination befitting its natural grace and beauty," Deckoff said.[^1][^3][^5] Deckoff applied in December 2025 for a Coastal Zone Management major permit to replace a metal-framed warehouse on Little St. James with an 8,800 square foot semicircular concrete warehouse over a cistern. The territory's Coastal Zone Management director, Marlon Hibbert, said in February 2026 that the application remained incomplete because no environmental assessment had been submitted. Attempts to reach Deckoff for comment were unsuccessful.[^2] [^1]: "SD Investments Announces Acquisition of Great St. James and Little St. James Islands in the United States Virgin Islands." *PR Newswire,* May 3, 2023. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sd-investments-announces-acquisition-of-great-st-james-and-little-st-james-islands-in-the-united-states-virgin-islands-301815032.html [^2]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Still no resort plans for Epstein's islands purchased by Deckoff." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 6, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/still-no-resort-plans-for-epsteins-islands-purchased-by-deckoff/article_84d776de-8427-4080-a1b5-6cf81418e23d.html (warehouse permit; Hibbert statement; Black Diamond Advisors and Holdings EDC benefits since 2012; May 16, 2014 Kahn and Visoski emails; Deckoff not named in the files). [^3]: "Billionaire Stephen Deckoff buys Jeffrey Epstein's private islands." *CNBC,* May 3, 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/03/jeffrey-epstein-private-islands-bought-by-billionaire.html ; "Financier buys Jeffrey Epstein's private islands, with plans to create a resort." *NPR,* May 4, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2023/05/04/1173956903/jeffrey-epstein-island-sold-st-james [^4]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint, paragraphs 33 to 34, filed as Exhibit 1 to Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1-1 (December 27, 2022), ECF pp. 8 to 9. 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 [^5]: "U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Settles Sex Trafficking Case Against Estate Of Jeffrey Epstein And Co-Defendants For Over $105 Million." *U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice,* December 1, 2022. https://usvidoj.com/u-s-virgin-islands-attorney-general-settles-sex-trafficking-case-against-estate-of-jeffrey-epstein-and-co-defendants-for-over-105-million/ ; Carlson, Suzanne. "Docs confirm Bryan pressed for special treatment of sex offender." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-confirm-bryan-pressed-for-special-treatment-of-sex-offender/article_5e9483c9-38d2-406c-8bb0-e5757ce287f2.html (11 million dollars from the Little St. James sale).