Red Ventures’ Ric Elias Denies Any Connection After Being Named in Puzzling Epstein Documents
Source of 'connections web' remains unknown
Two network graphs included in a recent release of Epstein files by the US Department of Justice include the name of Charlotte businessman Ric Elias, though the meaning of the graphs and who created them remains unclear.
The graphs do not appear to have been created by Epstein or his people, and Elias has denied any connection to the late financier.
“Ric never met Jeffrey Epstein. He had no interactions or business with him of any kind. Any association is purely indirect,” read a statement from a Red Ventures spokesperson.
Titled “Connections web,” the graphs name dozens of people from a range of industries including finance, tech, media, entertainment and politics, all of whom are placed in one of five categories: Close Friends, Acquaintances, Connectors, 2016 & Beyond, or 2015 Target.
It’s unclear who made the graphs or what they’re referring to, as they are standalone documents that aren’t attached to any email or source. Some on social media have speculated that the graph might aim to identify potential donors for some unknown campaign or cause, as many of those included therein, including Elias, are known philanthropists.
Elias’ name is listed among “Close Friends” at the bottom of each graph but isn’t included in the “connection webs” above.
Epstein himself appears in one of the two graphs. Also labeled as a Close Friend, Epstein’s name is only connected directly to two others: Leon Black and Bill Gates, both of which are labeled as “strong connections.”
Queen City Nerve researched each of the other names included in the Close Friends category at the bottom of each graph alongside Elias and none were found to have any apparent close ties to Epstein.
The most recent release of Epstein files on Jan. 30 comprised 3.5 million pages of documents pulled from Epstein’s computer, not all of which are related to the sex trafficking and other criminal activity he was involved with.
Who is Ric Elias?
Elias co-founded the digital marketing agency and multimedia company Red Ventures in 2000, building it up to the fourth-ranked company on the Inc. 500 list of the nation’s fastest growing businesses by 2007. He was named an Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur of the Year in 2011 and in 2016 was inducted into the Carolinas Entrepreneur Hall of Fame.
He has long been known as one of Charlotte’s most prolific philanthropists. In 2021, Elias signed The Giving Pledge, a campaign launched by Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates and Warren Buffett that asks the world’s wealthiest philanthropists to commit to giving the majority of their wealth to charitable causes.
That year, Elias donated $5 million to Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte. The Puerto Rico native also founded Rebuild Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria’s devastation in that territory. The organization has since been renamed to Stronger Than Ever and has helped people impacted by Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina, the war in Ukraine and other global crises.
As described on the Red Ventures website, Elias was a passenger on Flight 1549, also known as the “Miracle on the Hudson,” in 2009. The event changed his life, as he explains in his TED Talk titled “3 Things I Learned While My Plane Crashed.”
In 2019 he launched a podcast titled 3 Things in which he converses with folks he believes to be among the world’s most insightful leaders, asking each guest for three life lessons.
Elias is not the first Charlotte businessman whose name has been included in the Epstein files in an indirect way.
In January, a batch of Epstein files included emails that mentioned David Tepper, who owns Tepper Sports & Entertainment and by extension the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte FC, though there was no direct communication between the two and it did not appear that they ever met or were in contact.
