Epstein Data Wiki

Lapo Elkann

Properties2
tagsperson, businessman, italy, italia-independent, epstein-files-transparency-act
aliasesLapo Edovard Elkann

15 min read

OccupationItalian businessman. Chairman and founder of Italia Independent Group and of Garage Italia Customs, and a non-executive director of Ferrari N.V. from April 15, 2016 to April 12, 2019, as stated in Ferrari’s own annual reports12
Relationship to EpsteinThe searches returned no document recording any dealing between the two men, no document written by him and none addressed to him; he is named in three exchanges between Jeffrey Epstein and other people, dated 2009, 2014 and 2017
In court recordsThose searches, which cover the released files only, returned no charging instrument, court filing, deposition, subpoena, flight manifest, message pad or address-book entry naming him
ResponseSaid on September 3 and again on September 5, 2026 that seeing his name placed beside Epstein’s, in the absence of any element justifying it, is unacceptable, that he had crossed paths with Epstein twice in public settings, and that the published files hold no correspondence between them: there had never been any correspondence whatsoever, he said on September 33; there was no direct correspondence, he said on September 54

Lapo Elkann is an Italian businessman, chairman and founder of Italia Independent Group and of Garage Italia Customs and a former non-executive director of Ferrari N.V.12 On August 31, 2026 a member of the House of Representatives named him in a one minute floor statement urging that people the member called perpetrators be investigated and prosecuted; that is a member’s statement in the Congressional Record, and not a charge, a referral, an indictment or a finding.5 A full-text search of the released files under the variants set out below returned no document written by him and none addressed to him. He is named in three exchanges between Jeffrey Epstein and other people: a message of May 15, 2009 in which Epstein said he would call him on a correspondent’s behalf and pass on that correspondent’s email address; an invitation to a London gallery reception for a work featuring him, which reached Epstein’s office in January 2014 and was declined; and a message of September 7, 2017 in which a correspondent told Epstein of having been at a shoot with him that day, and Epstein replied, “you can tell him we are friends”6789. He said on September 3 and again on September 5, 2026 that he had crossed paths with Epstein twice, both times in public settings, and that the published files hold no correspondence between them: there had never been any correspondence whatsoever, he said on September 3;3 there was no direct correspondence, he said on September 5.4 Appearing in the released files is not evidence of wrongdoing, and nothing on this page is a finding of any.

Identification, and the searches that were run

The surname is shared, and most of the pages a search returns are about other people. A full-text search of the released files was run under “Lapo Elkann”, “Lapo” alone, “Elkann” alone, the fused attachment-name form “lapoelkann”, and the misspellings that the documents and their machine text actually carry: “elkmann”, “ellcmann”, “Eilkann”, “Elicann”, “Elkan” and “Lappo”. “Elkann” alone returns about fifty pages, of which the great majority concern his brother John Elkann, his sister Ginevra Elkann or his father Alain Elkann, and one carries the surname alone. “Elkan” returns a New York attorney whose given name it is. “Lapo” alone returns a credit-rating analyst of that forename, an aviation log entry, and a surname broken apart by the machine reading. The searches returned no charging instrument, court filing, deposition, subpoena, flight manifest, telephone message pad or address-book entry naming him.

The pages that do name him fall into eight groups, most of which exist in several duplicate copies across the released data sets. Three are exchanges between Epstein and other people and are described below. One is a message of April 19, 2015 about his brother in which he is named only as a means of identifying his brother.10 Two concern a designer’s employment history: a curriculum vitae listing Italia Independent among the designer’s posts and naming him among the people the designer reported to, and a message to Epstein of October 27, 2012 in which a correspondent wrote that the designer had been working with him on that line and had chosen to move on.1112 One is a page of a 2007 ABC News feature held in Epstein’s press files, in which he is named in a single closing paragraph as an illustration and is not connected to Epstein anywhere in the article.13 The last group is social correspondence in which his father is identified by reference to him.14

A search count is a floor and not a measure of the release. The machine text on these documents is damaged in ways that defeat a search: Epstein spelled the surname “elkmann” in his 2009 message, which is what the page image shows, and the copy cited here is machine-read as “ellcmann”, so it answers to neither spelling; a 2012 message and a curriculum vitae each print “Eilkann” in the image itself, which is the writer’s own error rather than an extraction error.

The message of May 15, 2009

Epstein exchanged messages that day with a correspondent whose name and address the document blacks out. The correspondent asked: “Do you know how to get in touch with Lapo? I have wanted to reach out to him for a while, but have no way of getting in touch with him now.” Epstein replied that Elkann’s company was in New York and that he would call him and pass on the correspondent’s email address. Nothing else in that message is reported here. The correspondent answered: “I’d love it if you’d call him on my behalf!! I appreciate it.” Epstein wrote back: “of course//// he’s great and super smart”6.

The documents returned by the searches described above record nothing further about this. They do not show that any call was made, and they contain no message from Elkann.

The invitation of January 2014

On January 24, 2014 a Milan communications agency sent an invitation for Epstein’s attention, routed through two members of staff at CNH Industrial. It invited him to a reception at the London gallery Robilant+Voena, “Thursday 6 February, 6 -9pm”,8 celebrating two other named people and, in the invitation’s own words, “FEATURING” him, under the title “THE ITALIAN”. Lesley Groff forwarded it to Epstein on January 30.7 On February 4 Epstein’s office replied to the agency: “Hi Alessia…Jeffrey will not be able to attend this event…but thank you!”8

Nothing in the documents cited here shows that Elkann sent the invitation, knew it had been sent to Epstein, or was told of the reply.

The message of September 7, 2017

A correspondent whose name and address the document blacks out wrote to Epstein: “I’ve been shooting Lapo Elkann today with photographer”. Epstein replied, “you can tell him we are friends”, and the correspondent answered, “He just left”9.

That is Epstein’s characterisation of a relationship, given as an instruction to a third party. Nothing in the documents cited here shows that the message was passed on, and nothing in them records any response from Elkann to it. His own account of his contact with Epstein, given in September 2026, is set out below.

His account

He has answered the floor statement twice, and both answers are reported here in the order he gave them.

In a statement he provided to the English-language Rome outlet Wanted in Rome, published on September 3, 2026, he said: “There are certain matters on which one cannot and must not compromise. To see one’s name associated with that of Jeffrey Epstein, in the absence of any element that could justify such an association, is unacceptable.” He said that for that reason he would “protect my reputation through all appropriate channels”. He said he had crossed paths with Epstein on two public occasions, once in New York when he was working as an assistant to Henry Kissinger, at a gathering attended by figures from politics and finance, and once in Rome at a business event tied to Brasilinvest, and he said: “There has never been any correspondence whatsoever between Jeffrey Epstein and myself”, adding that this could be verified in the published files.3

On September 5, 2026 he gave a fuller statement, which the Italian news agency LaPresse carried and which opens with the words “Come ho già dichiarato nei giorni scorsi”, which is to say that he had already stated this in the preceding days, before setting out, clause for clause, the same point the English text carries for September 3. Wanted in Rome publishes in English, and no Italian original of its September 3 quotations was located; it cannot be established here whether he gave that statement in English or in Italian and had it translated for publication, only that the two published texts render the same words. He said that there are matters on which one cannot and must not yield and that “Vedere il proprio nome accostato a quello di Jeffrey Epstein, in assenza di elementi che giustifichino tale associazione, è inaccettabile”, which is to say that seeing his own name placed beside Epstein’s, in the absence of elements justifying such an association, is unacceptable. He said he wondered whether the use of his name came from a wish to divert attention from others, that he would protect his reputation “in ogni sede opportuna” against anyone using his name improperly or spreading wholly unfounded reports, and that he remained “a completa disposizione delle autorità competenti”, at the complete disposal of the competent authorities.4

On his contact with Epstein he said in that statement: “Ho incrociato Jeffrey Epstein due volte”, that he had crossed paths with Epstein twice, the first in New York when he was an assistant to Henry Kissinger, “in un contesto pubblico in cui erano presenti figure del mondo della politica e della finanza”, and the second in Rome at a business event connected with Brasilinvest. Of the released files he said: “non c’è nessuna corrispondenza diretta tra me e lui”, that there is no direct correspondence between him and Epstein.4 The two published texts differ on that point: the English Wanted in Rome carries for September 3 has him saying there had never been any correspondence whatsoever, and the Italian LaPresse carries for September 5 has him saying there is no direct correspondence. Given that the September 5 text opens by restating the September 3 statement almost word for word, the difference may belong to Wanted in Rome’s translation rather than to anything he said differently on the two dates; this page reports both published texts rather than treating the difference as a change in his position. The searches described above bear on the narrower of the two formulations: they returned no document written by him and none addressed to him.

Ferrari’s annual report for 2016, written ten years before either statement and for an unrelated purpose, records that he worked as an assistant to Henry Kissinger before joining Fiat Group.1

He also said that he is particularly sensitive to questions of abuse and violence because of his own painful personal experience, and that this is among the reasons he has for years run work through his Fondazione LAPS for vulnerable people, with particular attention to women and children who are victims of violence.4

Named in the House record

On August 31, 2026 Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky was given permission to address the House for one minute. He said that a year after the Epstein Files Transparency Act was signed the government “continues to withhold over 3 million files”, that a second bill had been introduced, and that “We want perpetrators of these crimes to be investigated and prosecuted, men like:”. He then read thirteen men’s names, of which Elkann’s was one, and one woman’s, and closed: “Perhaps hearing these names will shame the Department of Justice into delivering justice.”5 The other thirteen names are not reproduced here.

The words perpetrator and prosecuted are the member’s. The statement is an assertion made on the floor of the House and carried in the Congressional Record. It is not a charge, a referral, an indictment or a finding, no charge or referral follows from it, and being named in it is not evidence of anything. His response is set out above: he said on September 5, 2026 that seeing his name placed beside Epstein’s without elements justifying it is unacceptable and that he would protect his reputation.4

Statements

  • September 3, 2026, in a statement given to Wanted in Rome: “To see one’s name associated with that of Jeffrey Epstein, in the absence of any element that could justify such an association, is unacceptable.”3
  • September 3, 2026, in the same statement: “There has never been any correspondence whatsoever between Jeffrey Epstein and myself.”3
  • September 5, 2026, in a statement carried by LaPresse: “Vedere il proprio nome accostato a quello di Jeffrey Epstein, in assenza di elementi che giustifichino tale associazione, è inaccettabile.”4
  • September 5, 2026, on his contact with Epstein: “Ho incrociato Jeffrey Epstein due volte”.4
  • September 5, 2026, on the released files: “non c’è nessuna corrispondenza diretta tra me e lui”.4

Official records

  • U.S. House of Representatives. Congressional Record, August 31, 2026, page H5349.5
  • U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Ferrari N.V., Form 20-F for 2016, filed March 3, 2017, and Form 20-F for 2020, filed February 26, 2021, which carry his corporate biography and the dates of his directorship.12

Coverage

These are the two sources this page draws his own words from. Italian-language reporting on the House remarks and on the documents quoted above began before September 2026; this page has not surveyed that earlier coverage.

  • Wanted in Rome, “Massie Names Lapo Elkann on House Floor Over Epstein Ties”, September 1, 2026, updated September 3, 2026 with his statement.3
  • LaPresse, “Caso Epstein, Lapo Elkann: ‘Inaccettabile accostare il mio nome al suo, tutelerò la mia reputazione’”, September 5, 2026.4

Footnotes

  1. Ferrari N.V., Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2016, filed March 3, 2017, Item 6.A, summary biography: “Mr. Lapo Edovard Elkann is Chairman and Founder of Italia Independent Group and of Garage Italia Customs … After gaining experience as assistant to Henry Kissinger, Mr. Lapo Edovard Elkann became the Worldwide Brand Promotion Director for Fiat Group”. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1648416/000164841617000016/ferrarinv20-f12312016.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. Ferrari N.V., Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2020, filed February 26, 2021, directors’ remuneration table and note 5: “Mr. Lapo Elkann and Mr. Amedeo Felisa were Non-Executive Directors from 01/01/2019 to 04/12/2019.” The 2016 report’s remuneration table gives his start as 04/15/16. Wanted in Rome describes him as a current board member of Ferrari and Stellantis; the filings give a Ferrari directorship ending April 12, 2019 and record no Stellantis appointment. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1648416/000164841621000015/race-20201231.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. “Massie Names Lapo Elkann on House Floor Over Epstein Ties”, Wanted in Rome, September 1, 2026, carrying an update dated September 3, 2026 with a statement the outlet says he provided after publication. https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/massie-names-lapo-elkann-on-house-floor-over-epstein-ties.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  4. “Caso Epstein, Lapo Elkann: ‘Inaccettabile accostare il mio nome al suo, tutelerò la mia reputazione’”, LaPresse, September 5, 2026. https://www.lapresse.it/cronaca/2026/09/05/caso-epstein-lapo-elkann-inaccettabile-accostare-il-mio-nome-al-suo-tutelero-la-mia-reputazione/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  5. “Bring Epstein Perpetrators to Justice”, remarks of Mr. Massie, Congressional Record, vol. 172, no. 137 (August 31, 2026), House, p. H5349. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2026-08-31/html/CREC-2026-08-31-pt1-PgH5349-3.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  6. Email chain, Jeffrey Epstein and a correspondent whose name and address the document blacks out, May 15, 2009, quoting the messages it answers. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00749648 p.1. Nothing else in that chain is cited here. ↩ ↩2

  7. Email, Lesley Groff to Jeffrey Epstein, January 30, 2014, forwarding an invitation of January 24, 2014, attachment “LAPOELKANNLONDONROBILANTANDVOENA invitation.pdf”. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02692643 p.1. ↩ ↩2

  8. Email from Epstein’s office to the communications agency, February 4, 2014, quoting the invitation in full. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02114794 p.1. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  9. Email chain, Jeffrey Epstein and a correspondent whose name and address the document blacks out, September 7, 2017. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00649579 p.1. The times printed inside the chain are the correspondent’s local clock and the header is in coordinated universal time, so no clock time is given here. ↩ ↩2

  10. Email chain, Jeffrey Epstein and a correspondent whose name the document blacks out, April 19, 2015. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00858985 p.1. ↩

  11. Curriculum vitae of a designer, sent to Epstein in 2012, listing Italia Independent, Milan, 2011 to current, and naming him among the people the designer reported to. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01100497 p.1. ↩

  12. Email to Jeffrey Epstein, October 27, 2012, about a designer’s work on Italia Independent. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02003955 p.1. Nothing else on that page is cited here. ↩

  13. ABC News, “Above the Law: Billionaires in the Bedroom”, copyright 2007, printed August 31, 2007 and held in the release. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00188312 p.13. Nothing else on that page is cited here. ↩

  14. Guest list held in Epstein’s files identifying an Italian author as the father of Lapo. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02430386 p.2. ↩

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