Topline

Cami Clark, the low-profile wife of Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, tried to court Jeffrey Epstein as an investor for her “luxury porn company” and women’s health startup, the Wall Street Journal and emails in the Epstein files reveal, as the Journal’s reporting raises new questions about Clark’s influence over her powerful husband and his company.

Key Facts

Clark is an entrepreneur who married Amodei in 2022 after previously dating former Google chief Eric Schmidt, with the Journal describing her as a “sounding board and strategic adviser” for Amodei and Anthropic.

Her previous attempted businesses include founding a self-described “free luxury porn” company that catered to women and a “social dieting app.”

Clark met Epstein in March 2011 through John Brockman, a literary agent who knew Epstein, with emails in the Epstein files showing Brockman telling Epstein he “should connect for dinner with my girls,” referring to Clark and her business partner Michelle Capocefalo.

“We would love to have dinner with you this evening,” Cami said in an email responding to Brockman’s introduction, then sending an email the next day that passed along her company’s funding requirements and exclaimed, “It was FANTASTIC meeting you last night!”

Clark then asked Epstein in a March 2012 email exchange about whether he’d be interested in investing in her and a colleague’s businesses, though there’s no indication in the Epstein files that the financier made any investment.

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.

What Do The Epstein Files Say About Cami Clark?

After their initial introduction through Brockman, Clark sent Epstein the script and treatment for her company’s first films a few days later in March 2011, noting she thought Epstein “and the ladies” might enjoy them and saying the content was “a little nsfw.” Clark’s March 2012 exchange with Epstein is the lengthiest conversation between them that appears in the Epstein files, with Epstein initially asking, “i’m sorry, who is this,” 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 “free luxury porn company” and asked if that “ring[s] a bell,” Epstein responded, “yes, a loud gong.” (“I was going to say, you would be the first person ever that didn’t remember us :),” 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 “willing to look at whatever you think viable.” Epstein then asked what happened to Clark’s business plans with the porn company and she said they were moving “full speed ahead,” pitching Epstein on investing in her company’s foray into video. “Can’t do TV sex,” Epstein responded, to which Clark said, “I didn’t think so :).” 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’ health, which they can then choose to share with friends. It’s unclear if Epstein ever responded to her pitch. Other emails in the Epstein files show Clark keeping the financier on her email list—inviting him to a housewarming party in July 2012—and that Epstein connected with her on LinkedIn a year later in 2013. There’s no indication through the files that the two met again in person.

Forbes Valuation

Forbes values Amodei’s net worth at $15.5 billion as of Friday afternoon. That makes him richer than OpenAI CEO Sam Altman ($3.4 billion), who does not hold equity in his AI company, but still ranks far below Grok leader Elon Musk ($863.2 billion).

What We Don’t Know

Very much about Clark, beyond what’s reported in the Journal’s piece. There’s little information about her online, with the Journal noting even Anthropic’s AI model Claude can’t answer if Amodei is married. There have also been deliberate “efforts” made to remove public references to her, the Journal reports citing an unnamed source.

News Peg

The reporting on Clark comes as Anthropic prepares to go public as soon as this fall, with an IPO that could reportedly be valued at $2 trillion or more. The Journal separately reported this week that Anthropic is trying to woo potential investors ahead of the planned IPO, making this a crucial moment for Amodei’s leadership—and potentially Clark’s counsel. It also comes as the Epstein files and Epstein’s 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.

Further Reading

Even Claude Is in the Dark About Dario Amodei’s Wife—and Her Influence at Anthropic (Wall Street Journal)

Anthropic Confidentially Files For Its Highly Anticipated IPO (Forbes)