It's Epstein Friday!

And today's contestant is Sultan Sheik ur Booty.

Dubai CEO Named in Epstein Files Resigns From DP World

Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem visited Epstein’s private island and communicated with him for years

By Omar Abdel-Baqui and Khadeeja Safdar and Abdul Spritzdar, WSJ

Updated Feb. 13, 2026 10:28 am ET

DP World leader Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem resigned as chairman and chief executive after Justice Department documents revealed his close ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

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DUBAI—Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, the leader of ports operator DP World, resigned after documents released by the Justice Department revealed his close ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

The Justice Department files and other recent public disclosures showed the two men exchanged friendly emails for years, including discussing women in crude terms. Photos showed that Bin Sulayem visited Epstein’s island.

The spotlight intensified this week when it was revealed in Congress that the Dubai businessman was the “sultan” that received a 2019 email where Epstein wrote: “I loved the torture video.”

On Friday, Bin Sulayem resigned as chairman and chief executive of DP World, which is ultimately owned by the government of Dubai. Bin Sulayem couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

He is among the highest-profile business figures to step aside this year over his association with Epstein. On Friday, Goldman Sachs’s top lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler, said she would resign in June. The leader of law firm Paul Weiss stepped aside as chair last week. Both said they didn’t know about Epstein’s crimes and regretted their association with Epstein.

The documents recently released showed Bin Sulayem had communicated with Epstein before his 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution and stayed in touch until 2019, the year when Epstein was arrested on federal sex-trafficking charges.

In one 2007 exchange, Epstein and Bin Sulayem discussed a woman they both appeared to know, according to Epstein emails released by Distributed Denial of Secrets, a nonprofit that publishes leaked documents.

Bin Sulayem wrote that he met her in New York and “There is a missunderstanding (sic) she she wanted some BUSINESS! while i only wanted some PUSSYNESS!”

Epstein replied, “praise Allah , there are still people like you.”

In 2016, Epstein bought a second private island in the Caribbean called Great Saint James using the Dubai businessman to disguise his identity because the owner of the island didn’t want to sell to Epstein, according to previously released documents and people familiar with the matter.

In 2019, a spokesman told The Wall Street Journal that Bin Sulayem wasn’t aware that his name was being used for the transaction and that they were considering legal options against media outlets for associating Bin Sulayem with the sex offender.

The spokesman didn’t respond to further inquiries from the Journal in 2023 when documents in a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase revealed additional ties between Bin Sulayem and Epstein.

This week the Justice Department identified Bin Sulayem as the “sultan” who received a 2019 email from Epstein where Epstein wrote that “I loved the torture video.” Congressmen highlighted the document, because the recipient was redacted.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on X that it was redacted because it is an email address, and “you know that the Sultan’s name is available unredacted in the files,” pointing to a file that mentioned Bin Sulayem.

DP World runs more than 60 ports and terminals across the globe. Bin Sulayem had been chief executive since 2016 and chairman since 2007. Dubai and DP World said that Essa Kazim, chairman of Dubai’s stock exchange, has been appointed chairman and that the company’s chief financial officer has been named as group chief executive.

British International Investment, a financing arm of the U.K., said it would continue with new investments in DP World after announcing a pause earlier this week in light of Bin Sulayem’s inclusion in the Epstein Files. “We welcome today’s decision by DP World and look forward to continuing our partnership,” a spokesperson said.

Another investor, Canadian pension-fund manager La Caisse, said that DP World took appropriate measures and that it would continue to partner on port projects with the company. “It has always been important to distinguish the company, DP World, from the individual, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem,” La Caisse said.