Topline<\/p>\n
Cami Clark, the low-profile wife of Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, tried to court Jeffrey Epstein as an investor for her \u201cluxury porn company\u201d and women\u2019s health startup, the Wall Street Journal and emails in the Epstein files reveal, as the Journal\u2019s reporting raises new questions about Clark\u2019s influence over her powerful husband and his company.<\/p>\n
Cami Clark and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on February 19.<\/p>\n
AFP via Getty ImagesKey Facts<\/p>\n
Clark is an entrepreneur who married Amodei in 2022 after previously dating former Google chief Eric Schmidt, with the Journal describing<\/a> her as a \u201csounding board and strategic adviser\u201d for Amodei and Anthropic.<\/p>\n Her previous attempted businesses include founding a self-described \u201cfree luxury porn\u201d company that catered to women and a \u201csocial dieting app.\u201d<\/p>\n Clark met Epstein in March 2011 through John Brockman, a literary agent who knew Epstein, with emails<\/a> in the Epstein files showing Brockman telling Epstein he \u201cshould connect for dinner with my girls,\u201d referring to Clark and her business partner Michelle Capocefalo.<\/p>\n \u201cWe would love to have dinner with you this evening,\u201d Cami said in an email responding to Brockman\u2019s introduction, then sending an email<\/a> the next day that passed along her company\u2019s funding requirements and exclaimed, \u201cIt was FANTASTIC meeting you last night!\u201d <\/p>\n Clark then asked Epstein in a March 2012 email exchange about whether he\u2019d be interested in investing in her and a colleague\u2019s businesses, though there\u2019s no indication in the Epstein files that the financier made any investment.<\/p>\n Her outreach to Epstein came years after the late financier had already been convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution and registered as a sex offender, and Clark did not comment to the Journal on her connection to Epstein.<\/p>\n What Do The Epstein Files Say About Cami Clark?<\/p>\n After their initial introduction through Brockman, Clark sent<\/a> Epstein the script and treatment for her company\u2019s first films a few days later in March 2011, noting she thought Epstein \u201cand the ladies\u201d might enjoy them and saying the content was \u201ca little nsfw.\u201d Clark\u2019s March 2012 exchange<\/a> with Epstein is the lengthiest conversation between them that appears in the Epstein files, with Epstein initially asking, \u201ci\u2019m sorry, who is this,\u201d after Clark reached out and asked to put Epstein in touch with another female entrepreneur launching a lingerie line. When Clark reminded him that she has the \u201cfree luxury porn company\u201d and asked if that \u201cring[s] a bell,\u201d Epstein responded, \u201cyes, a loud gong.\u201d (\u201cI was going to say, you would be the first person ever that didn\u2019t remember us :),\u201d Clark responded.) Clark asked Epstein to get together in New York but the financier said he was in the Caribbean, though he said he was \u201cwilling to look at whatever you think viable.\u201d Epstein then asked what happened to Clark\u2019s business plans with the porn company and she said they were moving \u201cfull speed ahead,\u201d pitching Epstein on investing in her company\u2019s foray into video. \u201cCan\u2019t do TV sex,\u201d Epstein responded, to which Clark said, \u201cI didn\u2019t think so :).\u201d She also raised her social dieting app and website to Epstein, pitching it as a business that takes data from health monitoring devices and uses it to create infographics about users\u2019 health, which they can then choose to share with friends. It\u2019s unclear if Epstein ever responded to her pitch. Other emails in the Epstein files show Clark keeping the financier on her email list\u2014inviting<\/a> him to a housewarming party in July 2012\u2014and that Epstein connected<\/a> with her on LinkedIn a year later in 2013. There\u2019s no indication through the files that the two met again in person.<\/p>\n Forbes Valuation<\/p>\n Forbes values Amodei\u2019s net worth<\/a> at $15.5 billion as of Friday afternoon. That makes him richer than OpenAI CEO Sam Altman ($3.4 billion<\/a>), who does not hold equity in his AI company, but still ranks far below Grok leader Elon Musk ($863.2 billion<\/a>). <\/p>\n What We Don\u2019t Know<\/p>\n Very much about Clark, beyond what\u2019s reported in the Journal\u2019s piece. There\u2019s little information about her online, with the Journal noting even Anthropic\u2019s AI model Claude can\u2019t answer if Amodei is married. There have also been deliberate \u201cefforts\u201d made to remove public references to her, the Journal reports citing an unnamed source.<\/p>\n News Peg<\/p>\n The reporting on Clark comes as Anthropic prepares<\/a> to go public as soon as this fall, with an IPO that could reportedly<\/a> be valued at $2 trillion or more. The Journal separately reported<\/a> this week that Anthropic is trying to woo potential investors ahead of the planned IPO, making this a crucial moment for Amodei\u2019s leadership\u2014and potentially Clark\u2019s counsel. It also comes as the Epstein files and Epstein\u2019s relationships continue to attract widespread attention, following the DOJ releasing thousands of files publicly earlier this year. Those with links to the late financier have faced widespread scrutiny, with some even being called to testify to Congress, though many of the high-profile figures Epstein was known to associate with have never been accused of any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n Further Reading<\/p>\n