Crypto_Bilawal

In the rapidly evolving landscape of Web3, Vanar Chain (VANRY) has emerged as a frontrunner by positioning itself as the world’s first “AI-native” Layer 1 blockchain. As of early 2026, the project has successfully transitioned from its origins in gaming and entertainment to become a foundational infrastructure for the “Intelligence Economy.”

The following article provides a deep dive into the technology powering Vanar, its practical applications, and the role of its native token, VANRY.

VANAR CHAIN: FUTURE OF AI AND WEB3
The blockchain industry has long struggled with the “Oracle Problem” and the “Storage Illusion” – the fact that most data is stored off-chain and requires fragile links to be useful. Vanar Chain solves this by embedding artificial intelligence and high-efficiency data storage directly into its core protocol.

The Technology: The “Vanar Stack”

Unlike traditional blockchains that act as simple ledgers, Vanar utilises a multi-layered architecture known as the Vanar Stack. This system is designed to handle data-intensive tasks that would typically crash or overprice other networks.

Neutron (The Semantic Memory): This is Vanar’s breakthrough storage layer. It uses AI-powered compression to shrink files (like PDFs or legal deeds) by up to 500:1, storing them directly on-chain as “Seeds.” This ensures data is permanent, verifiable, and instantly accessible to AI.

Kayon (The AI Reasoning Engine): Kayon is the “brain” of the chain. It allows smart contracts to read and “reason” over the data stored in Neutron. For example, a contract could automatically trigger a payment only after Kayon verifies the specific text within a digitized invoice stored on-chain.

Efficiency & Scalability: Built on a Delegated Proof of Stake (dPoS) and Proof of Reputation (PoR) model, Vanar boasts sub-3-second block times and a fixed, ultra-low transaction fee of $0.0005. It is fully EVM-compatible, allowing Ethereum developers to migrate their apps instantly.

REAL-WORLD USE CASES
Vanar’s architecture isn’t just a technical flex; it is built for mass-market industries:

AI & Autonomous Agents: Developers use Vanar to host “Pilot Agents” (AI assistants that can manage portfolios or execute complex DeFi swaps using natural language commands).

Enterprise & PayFi: Major partners like Worldpay use Vanar to resolve transaction disputes by accessing immutable “data seeds” on-chain, reducing fraud and processing times.

Gaming & Metaverse: Having evolved from the Virtua metaverse, Vanar remains a powerhouse for gaming. It supports massive on-chain economies where players earn rewards in games like World of Dypians.

Sustainability: Through Vanar ECO, the chain leverages Google Cloud’s carbon-neutral infrastructure and provides real-time energy tracking, making it the go-to choice for ESG-conscious brands.

$VANRY: THE VANRY TOKEN
The VANRY token is the lifeblood of this ecosystem. While many tokens serve only as a speculative asset, VANRY has been engineered with deep utility:

Utility Category Function
Network Fuel Used to pay for all transaction and smart contract gas fees.
AI Subscriptions Starting in Q1 2026, users pay in to access premium AI tools (Neutron/Kayon).
Staking & Security Token holders can staketo secure the network and earn a portion of block rewards.
Governance Stakers have voting rights on protocol upgrades and the allocation of the Vanar Foundation treasury.
TOKENOMICS & MARKET OUTLOOK
As of January 2026, VANRY is trading at approximately $0.01, showing resilience following its high-profile rebranding and migration from the old TVK token. The introduction of the AI subscription model this quarter is expected to create a “buy-back and burn” effect, potentially reducing the circulating supply as demand for on-chain AI tools grows.

COMPARISON WITH OTHER TECH & WHY VANAR MATTERS
When comparing Vanar Chain (VANRY) to other titans in the sector like Bittensor (TAO) and Fetch.ai (FET/ASI), the primary distinction lies in their architectural purpose within the AI value chain. While Bittensor operates as a decentralised marketplace for machine-learning models (the “brains”) and Fetch.ai focuses on autonomous agents that perform specific tasks (the “workers”), Vanar positions itself as the foundation: the high-speed, AI-native Layer 1 infrastructure that hosts these applications.

Vanar’s unique selling point in 2026 is its “all-in-one” stack; by integrating Neutron for data storage and Kayon for on-chain reasoning, it provides a seamless environment for consumer-facing AI apps that need to be fast, cheap, and capable of processing massive datasets without leaving the blockchain.

Technically, Vanar offers a more accessible entry point for traditional developers and brands because it is fully EVM-compatible, allowing any Ethereum-based application to migrate and immediately utilise its AI tools. In contrast, Bittensor requires participation in specialized subnets with a steep technical curve, and Fetch.ai is deeply rooted in the Cosmos ecosystem for industrial automation.

For investors, the VANRY token represents a “utility-plus” asset: it is not only used for standard gas fees (which are fixed at a microscopic $0.0005) but also serves as the primary currency for the new AI subscription models and data-burn mechanisms. This creates a direct correlation between the growth of AI usage on the network and the token’s deflationary pressure, a model that differs from the inflationary emission rewards found in many of its competitors.

Vanar Chain is attempting to do for blockchain what the smartphone did for the internet: make it invisible, intelligent, and indispensable. By combining NVIDIA-powered AI infrastructure with a green, high-speed L1, Vanar is no longer just a “gaming chain”; it is the backbone of a new era of verifiable machine intelligence.$VANRY
@Vanar

watching FOGO closely this week, and the project is currently a massive tug-of-war between high-tech potential and some serious tokenomics questions. The price is showing some "higher low" structures, but the long-term chart is still a bit of a riddle.
Here is what I’m seeing on my screen:
🟢 Why I’m Watching.
To me, FOGO’s technological advantage is real. They are consistently hitting 40ms slot times, which is exactly what high-frequency DeFi and AI agents need to operate on-chain without lag. Their "Sessions" feature, which allows for near-zero gas and seamless clicks, makes it one of the best chains for gaming I've tried this year.
Right now, the team is working hard to lock up supply.
They have an official staking program offering up to 29.9% APR, plus a massive 16 million FOGO reward pool on Binance. This is clearly intended to keep the community engaged and reduce selling pressure in the short term.
Technically, the short-term moving averages (EMA) have finally crossed into a bullish "buy" signal.
🔴 What Worries Me.
But I have to be the voice of caution regarding the future. While the supply is tight now, we are looking at a massive cliff. About 62% of the total supply is still vested, and we have major unlocks for advisors starting in September 2026.
I also noticed the "Concentration Score" is quite low (around 6%). This means we don't have a lot of big "whales" holding the floor; it's mostly retail traders. That usually leads to much more volatile price swings. Plus, there have been some unverified scam allegations floating around the community, I'm not saying they're true, but where there’s smoke, there’s usually volatility.
My Plan:
I love the 40ms speed and the "Machine Economy" narrative, but I’m keeping my position size "experimental." I’m taking advantage of the 29.9% staking APR for now, but I’m keeping a very close eye on those outflow numbers. If the price breaks its recent higher low, I’ll be looking to exit before the major unlocks later this year.
@Fogo Official #fogo $FOGO

Investors are most bearish on the dollar in over a decade, per Bank of America's (BofA) latest survey and that extreme bet could breed bitcoin $BTC$68,266.99 volatility, just not the way crypto bulls have become used to.

BofA's February survey shows investor positioning in the U.S. dollar has fallen to its most negative (bearish) level since at least early 2012, with net exposure at a record underweight. This is driven by concerns over further deterioration in the U.S. labor market, which could prompt the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

Since its inception, bitcoin has mostly moved in the opposite direction of the U.S. Dollar Index, rising when the greenback slides and falling when it strengthens. That tracks for two big reasons: As a dollar-denominated asset, a softer buck makes $BTC cheaper to buy and vice versa. Plus, a strong dollar tightens financial conditions globally, hammering risk assets like bitcoin and the reverse holds when it weakens.

So, if history is a guide, the record bearish dollar positioning, a sign of investors aligned for a weaker dollar, could be termed a classic bullish tailwind for bitcoin.

But wait, there's a twist. Since early 2025, and especially lately, bitcoin has developed a weird positive link to the dollar. DXY plunged over 9% last year and another 1% this year. Yet $BTC dropped 6% in 2025 and is down 21% year-to-date. Their 90-day correlation hit 0.60 on Monday, the highest since April 2025, according to data source TradingView.

If that link sticks, a deeper slide in the dollar index may not bode well for bitcoin. But the flip side is a dollar bounce, fueled by a short squeeze, could drag $BTC higher with it.

When investors pile into extreme bearish positions, any unexpected price bounce forces them to buy back en masse to limit losses, creating a short squeeze. This frantic covering propels the asset price higher, amplifying volatility skyward.

"Record short positioning raises the risk of volatility in major USD pairs; downside may extend on weak US data, but crowded trade dynamics increase potential for sharp short-covering rallies," InvestingLive's Chief Asia-Pacific Currency Analyst Eamonn Sheridan said in a market update.

At press time, the dollar index was up 0.25% on the day at 97.13 and bitcoin changed hands at $68,150, down 1%, according to CoinDesk data.

The evolution of blockchain gaming and entertainment infrastructure is accelerating, and @Vanarchain is positioning itself as a core builder in the space. Rather than chasing fleeting trends, Vanar Chain focuses on scalable performance and reducing the friction typically associated with Web3.
The role of $VANRY extends beyond simple speculation—it serves as the engine for an ecosystem built for creators and developers. By blending AI, gaming, and decentralized tech, Vanar is shifting the narrative toward practical, high-speed applications. Keeping a close eye on developer activity here as the ecosystem expands.Vanar Chain: Moving Beyond the Hype 🌐
Blockchain gaming is evolving, and @Vanarchain is at the forefront. It’s refreshing to see a network focus on scalable performance and real adoption over simple speculation.
$VANRY isn't just a token; it's the backbone of a creator-centric ecosystem designed to remove the "blockchain friction" that holds back mainstream gaming. As Web3 matures, the combination of AI and solid infrastructure will define the winners. Great to see the expansion happening in the Vanar ecosystem.$VANRY #VANAR @Vanar

Another L1. Another promise of speed. At this point, performance claims feel like background noise. So what made me pause wasn’t a benchmark — it was the decision to build around the Solana Virtual Machine and not pretend that’s groundbreaking.
That choice feels intentional.
SVM is already understood. Developers know how it behaves. They know the account model, how parallel execution interacts with state, where congestion can create friction. By choosing that runtime, Fogo isn’t asking for patience while it “figures things out.” It’s stepping directly into a known standard.
That’s confidence, but also risk.
Because now the comparison is automatic. If performance drops, if coordination under load gets messy, there’s no novelty shield. People will compare it directly to mature SVM ecosystems. That’s a harder benchmark than launching a custom VM nobody can properly evaluate yet.
What interests me is what Fogo isn’t doing.
It’s not trying to rewrite execution theory. It’s not marketing a new programming model just to sound innovative. It seems more focused on operational quality — making a proven engine run cleanly in its own environment.
From experience, that’s usually where things break.
High-performance systems look great in controlled conditions. The real test is unpredictable demand. Fee stability. Validator coordination. Whether throughput stays steady when real usage hits instead of test traffic.
If Fogo can keep SVM-style execution uneventful under stress, that’s meaningful. Not flashy, but meaningful. Infrastructure should feel boring. If it feels dramatic, something’s wrong.
I don’t watch Fogo for raw TPS.
I watch it to see whether performance remains consistent when nobody’s celebrating. Because speed gets attention — but sustained stability is what builders quietly gravitate toward.
And by anchoring itself to SVM, Fogo already chose the standard it wants to be measured against.
@fogo

Fogo is a next-generation Layer 1 blockchain designed to deliver the best on-chain trading experience ever. With its unique architecture and Firedancer implementation, the chain offers low latency, near-instant finality, and unparalleled scalability. As a purpose-built blockchain, Fogo will incorporate a carefully constructed, vertically integrated tech stack. This includes a curated validator set, native price feeds, an enshrined DEX, and collocated liquidity providers to create a truly differentiated trading environment. Backed by a team of trading and engineering experts and driven by a vision to redefine what’s possible, Fogo is setting the standard for high-performance blockchain infrastructureFogo (FOGO) Tokenomics
Tokenomics describes the economic model of Fogo (FOGO), including its supply, distribution, and utility within the ecosystem. Factors such as total supply, circulating supply, and token allocation to the team, investors, or community play a major role in shaping its market behaviour.

Fogo Tokenomics
Pro Tip: Understanding FOGO's tokenomics, price trends, and market sentiment can help you better assess its potential future price movements.

Fogo (FOGO) Price History
Price history provides valuable context for FOGO, showing how the token has reacted to different market conditions since its launch. By studying historical highs, lows, and overall trends, traders can spot patterns or gain perspective on the token's volatility. Explore the FOGO historical price movement now!

Fogo (FOGO) Price History
Fogo (FOGO) Price Prediction
Building on tokenomics and past performance, price predictions for FOGO aim to estimate where the token might be headed. Analysts and traders often look at supply dynamics, adoption trends, market sentiment, and broader crypto movements to form expectations. Did you know, MEXC has a price prediction tool that can assist you in measuring the future price of FOGO? Check it out now! #FOGO $FOGO

@fogo

season and began accepting and processing federal individual income tax returns for tax year 2025 on January 26, 2026. The IRS expects about 164 million individual tax returns for tax year 2025 to be filed ahead of the Wednesday, April 15, federal deadline.

To get—and stay—informed as the season rolls on, check out our Forbes Tax Guide for The Filing Season. It’s a look at what you need to know, what’s changed (and what hasn’t), and what we’re still watching. From choosing your filing status to sorting out the new tips deduction, we’ve got you covered.

We’ll keep this guide updated as the season progresses. So check back. Or better yet, subscribe to our free tax newsletter—that way, the information you need will land in your email inbox each Saturday morning.

Current Climate brings you the latest news about the business of sustainability every Monday. Sign up to get it in your inbox.

The White House celebrated its elimination of the “Endangerment Finding,” the key legal determination underpinning U.S. rules regulating greenhouse gas emissions, as a big win for business and consumers. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called it “the largest deregulatory action in American history.”

“This action will save American taxpayers over $1.3 trillion,” he said. “What that means is lower prices, more choices, and an end of heavy-handed climate policies. … American families will save over $2,400 on a new vehicle.”

Just how solid those numbers are isn’t clear, though if the administration wants cheaper car prices, rolling back Trump’s tariffs on steel, aluminum and auto parts would be more impactful. Regardless, even if new car prices go down by the promised amount, the administration’s weakening of federal fuel-economy rules ensures any savings will be offset by higher costs consumers will bear to keep their vehicles gassed up. It’s true that hybrids, plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles can cost a few thousand dollars more to purchase than gasoline-only models, but that premium is recovered within a couple of years from fuel savings.

Scientists, environmental and public health groups and states, including California, decried Trump’s move for the obvious reason: A rapidly warming climate, resulting from excessive use of fossil fuels, is an intensifying threat to humanity that requires dramatic action. That would seem to be a sufficiently persuasive argument, but there’s another: Clean energy and electric vehicles are booming businesses.

In 2025, the world spent $2.3 trillion on wind, solar and other forms of renewable energy, batteries, electric vehicles and other types of clean tech, according to BNEF. In fact, renewable energy is by far the fastest-growing source both in the U.S. and globally. And as Trump focuses on getting more power from oil, gas and coal, China has surged past the U.S. as the top supplier of clean energy tech that’s in far greater demand globally.
By contrast, there are economic harms created by reversing course of climate policy. Energy Innovation, a nonpartisan energy and climate think tank, estimates that the weakened fuel economy rules, were they to remain in effect through 2050, would reduce U.S. GDP by $710 billion; eliminate 110,000 jobs and lead to 17,000 pollution-related deaths.

Certainly, climate skeptics in the administration, including President Trump, have given carbon energy producers a gift with the endangerment finding rollback. But the move also sets the country up for much bigger economic and environmental dangers ahead, especially if it lags further behind China in the shift to a cleaner energy economy.

The Big Read
Staff Sheehan
Staff Sheehan
This Startup Wants To Turn America’s Nuclear Waste Into Power
Buying uranium is suspiciously easy. It shows up in a UPS truck,” says Staff Sheehan, CEO and founder of Project Omega. “You can Google it.” He’s not speaking hypothetically. He’s explaining how his latest company started.

With Project Omega, Sheehan, a Forbes Under 30 alum and serial founder, is taking on one of America’s most persistent energy problems: nuclear waste. Some 100,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel are stored in more than 100 sites across the country—in purified water pools as well as steel and concrete casks—the byproduct of more than half a century’s worth of nuclear power. And as utilities, government and industry turn to nuclear energy to meet AI’s seemingly unquenchable thirst for electricity, that backlog of unused spent fuel is going to grow. And though the fuel still contains more than 90% of its inherent energy, the U.S. lacks the means to recycle it.
Sheehan thinks that’s a wasted opportunity. And he’s built Project Omega to exploit it. The company is emerging from stealth with $12 million in funding, it shared exclusively with Forbes, at an estimated $50 million valuation (though that was before the company had a working prototype). The round was led by Starship Ventures with participation from Mantis Ventures, Decisive Point and Slow Ventures. The government is involved as well, through a contract from ARPA-E (the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy).

Unlike other nuclear fuel companies, Rhode Island-based Project Omega takes a consumer approach to nuclear waste recycling, aiming to turn the power isotopes in nuclear waste into long-life batteries that people and the government can use. It was a natural product of Sheehan’s long-running interest in clean power and background in heavy metal chemistry.

Hot Topic
sarah_Sierra18430_high 1
Sierra Peterson, left, with fellow founding general partner Sarah Sclarsic. Voyager
Sierra Peterson, founder and general partner of the Voyager fund, on why cleantech investing remains compelling

You’ve just launched a second fund, the $275 million Voyager II, focused on critical materials and energy technology as federal support for most renewables and cleantech diminishes. What’s the impetus to do this now?

Demand is extraordinary, both from corporate customers and I think even from a sovereignty perspective, where you have the weaponization of supply chains for inputs to industrial capacity.

Critical minerals are a great example of this. You have exports being limited primarily by China for all sorts of critical inputs to manufacturing, aerospace, automotive applications, and advanced semiconductor manufacturing. It’s an overt weaponization, but also amidst fraying trade relationships, a breakdown of the geopolitical norms of globalization on the trade front, it's the recognition that these are priorities for national security and securing domestic supply chains is really a domestic security priority. That is something we’ve seen huge federal support for.

Are the big infrastructure spending announcements for AI from Alphabet and other tech giants going to buoy cleantech, such as for bespoke energy systems for data centers?

Yes. One of our companies, Arbor–it’s an ex SpaceX team–is taking their experience in building rocket engines into building stationary engines for clean baseload power: zero-emission natural gas turbines. And they're able to deliver their turbines in two years versus the backlog for seven years that you're looking at with someone like GE Vernova. That's enabled them to generate more than $10 billion in interest, active interest, from a pipeline of hyperscalers who are scrambling for any sort of baseload power that they can dispatch within the next two years. I think their first big contract, that they’re negotiating right now, is for more than a billion and a half dollars. This is an early-stage company, but there's just so much demand for what they can provide, which is baseload power that's quickly dispatchable.

Batteries and solar continue to grow rapidly, though China is the dominant supplier of both. Do you see potential for the U.S. to scale up manufacturing of those products?

We do see a real possibility for a domestic battery supply chain to be established. A combination of access to raw materials, demand for finished goods in U.S. manufacturing, and obviously, trade partners that are much more reliable. The value there is real and has the capacity for expansion. On solar panel manufacturing, I don’t know if there's that much room to go in terms of actual solar PV production. It's so cheap to manufacture in China.
We may see higher value, higher capacity factor manufacturing, but that's not something we're investing in directly, at least to date. … It's going to be tough to compete on a global clearing price with Chinese panels.

Even with the tariffs in place?

For many projects, it may be. The cost is so advantageous overall. We don't expect a huge disruption in global supply chains on solar.

So what’s coming out of the White House in terms of policy changes isn’t affecting what’s happening on the ground with your investments?

No. It's really bolstering the performance of our portfolio. Again, because of the core value proposition, it's been delivering better energy, better materials, domestic modular, and better supply chains. That's the value proposition we've always invested in from the very beginning.

What Else We’re Reading
Drought spreads beyond Kenya's arid north, plunging herders into crisis (Reuters)

The Trump administration is pulling supercomputers out of a key weather and climate research center (CNN)

Trump administration urges nations to call for the withdrawal of a UN climate proposal (Associated Press)

Get more electricity from coal, Trump tells Department of Defense (Los Angeles Times)

Under GOP pressure, federal agency pulls climate change chapter from official manual for U.S. ju
dges (Pro Publica)

Topline
More than 40,000 users reported issues with the app and desktop versions of billionaire Elon Musk’s social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday morning.

Key Facts
Reports on Downdetector, a website that tracks user complaints online, shot up from 15 to 40,313 from 8:15 a.m. EST to 8:45 a.m. EST.

Half of the reporters cited problems in the site's mobile app.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

The U.S. House Oversight Committee will question retail mogul Leslie Wexner on February 18 about his relationship with sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. The deposition, which was recently moved from Washington D.C. to Wexner’s home state of Ohio, comes days after members of Congress, representatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Ro Khanna of California, compelled the Justice Department to reveal Wexner’s then-redacted identity in an internal FBI document that had been among the millions released in January. The FBI Document labeled Wexner a co-conspirator to Epstein along with Lesley Groff, Ghislaine Maxwell, Jean-Luc Brunel, Karyna Shuliak and four others whose names remained redacted. The document appears to be tied to the child sex trafficking charges against Epstein and possibly the investigation into his death. In 2019, the Assistant U.S. Attorney told Wexner’s legal counsel that he was “neither a co-conspirator nor a target in any respect,” according to a spokesperson for Wexner, after Wexner provided background information on Epstein (Wexner’s spokesperson says Wexner was never contacted again).

Long known as an associate of Epstein, Ohio’s wealthiest man – worth $9 billion – claims to have cut ties to him by 2008 and for years has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s offenses; he has not been charged with a crime. An 86-page investigative memorandum (prepared by New York federal prosecutors) from 2019 that was part of the most recently released Epstein files includes two pages that describe a meeting with Wexner’s attorneys, in which the entrepreneur’s lawyers claimed Epstein had stolen or misappropriated “several hundred million dollars” from Wexner over the years. (The memo mentioned other billionaires allegedly being serviced by underage girls but not Wexner). There was also an independent review conducted by the Wexner foundation in 2020 detailing Epstein’s involvement with the foundation.

“This was, frankly, a tremendous shock,” Wexner said in an open letter in 2019 on his foundation’s website, “even though it clearly pales in comparison to the unthinkable allegations against him now.” The misappropriated funds, at least an estimated $200 million over the years, Wexner said, were siphoned away gradually as Epstein grabbed control over Wexner’s personal finances “with virtually no oversight,” as stated in the memo. This amount of money was not insignificant even for the billionaire founder of L Brands, who was worth an estimated $1.7 billion in 2008. The memo noted that Epstein returned $100 million back to Wexner in January that year, and marked the last time Wexner claims he had contact with Epstein.

Despite Wexner’s efforts to distance himself from Epstein, his relatively low profile in recent years, and claims that the relationship was “more professional than social,” per the memo, the most recent batch of files has once again resurfaced the extent of their shared history. Wexner’s name now appears more than 1,300 times in the DOJ’s Epstein Library, frequently within emails, interviews and lawsuits dating far after 2008. As first reported by The New York Times, the newest files show an undated draft of a letter to “Les” from Epstein: “I have never once, not once, done anything , but protect your interests. I owe a great debt to you, as frankly you owe to me…You and I had ‘gang stuff’ for over 15 years.” A spokesperson for Wexner says that the undated draft note was never received by Wexner.
“When confronted, Epstein tried to convince Wexner's wife that she did not understand the financials and insisted that he had the Wexners’ best interests at heart.”

Besides the Ohio properties, Wexner’s 7-story, 40-room neoclassical mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side was transferred to Maple Inc., a U.S. Virgin Islands-based company controlled by Epstein, in 2011. The home, which was built for Macy’s heir Herbert Straus in the 1930s and bought by Wexner in 1989 for $13 million, became the site of many alleged social encounters involving Epstein and underage victims, according to prosecutors. At some point in 1998, Epstein sold the New York residence – where he resided until his arrest in 2019 – to himself at a deeply discounted price, per Wexner’s attorneys. The property was valued at $56 million after Epstein’s death and ultimately sold for $51 million in 2021, with just under that amount being transferred to the estate and the victims’ compensation fund, a lawyer for Epstein's estate told Forbes at the time.

Wexner also had ties to the house next door at 11 East 71st Street, now owned by Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, his neighbor for years. In 1988, SAM Conversion Corp. – a company based in Columbus, Ohio registered to an address then associated with Wexner – purchased the three-story home for an undisclosed amount. Four years later, SAM transferred the property to a trust where Epstein was the trustee.

While Wexner repeatedly said he cut off ties to Epstein nearly two decades ago, several released emails between Epstein and others in his life after that time indicate some of his employees were perhaps unaware of the depth of their falling out. In a 2015 email chain, an associate of Epstein suggests he consider hiring a woman who had been working at the “Wexner office,” leading to Epstein dismissing her as “not a good idea” much to his associate’s confusion.

Despite the fact that the FBI subpoenaed Wexner more than five years ago and labeled him a co-conspirator in at least one instance, an FBI email in the files dating to 2019 also claims the bureau had “limited evidence regarding his involvement.”

Still his ties to Epstein have had some real consequences. Wexner stepped down as CEO and Chairman of L Brands in May 2020, after 57 years at the helm. Many believed it was in part due to the Epstein fallout though Wexner reportedly denied it. He exited the board entirely in 2021. Despite largely retreating from the public eye, he was far from retired, adding billions to his net worth in recent years through investments in real estate and AI. He also remains the chair of the The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Board. The Ohio State graduate, who was also on his alma mater’s board of trustees at the time campus doctor Dr. Richard Strauss allegedly sexually assaulted students, was ordered by a judge last week to testify in a lawsuit brought by former students.

But first up is his deposition on Wednesday where he’ll likely continue to admonish his relationship with Epstein. “I am embarrassed that, like so many others,” Wexner said in his 2019 letter, “I was deceived by Mr. Epstein.”