Ted Waitt, Ghislaine Maxwell’s billionaire ex-boyfriend, told the House Oversight Committee he paid her $7.2 million after their breakup, while distancing himself from both Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein.
The House Oversight Committee’s closed-door testimony from Ghislaine Maxwell’s billionaire ex-boyfriend has added fresh detail to a case already defined by scope and cruelty, as Ted Waitt told lawmakers he paid Maxwell $7.2 million after their relationship ended.
Waitt. a co-founder of Gateway Computer. appeared before the committee in a transcribed interview on April 30. according to a transcript released by the panel.. He also said he regrets not digging into Jeffrey Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea earlier. and told lawmakers that he believes Maxwell minimized the seriousness of Epstein’s crimes.
“If I knew then what I know now about Ms. Maxwell, I never would’ve befriended her or allowed her to be around my four children,” Waitt said in the transcript. He added that he would not have entered or continued the relationship at all if he had understood what he later learned about Maxwell.
Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and other charges connected to Epstein and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022.
In testimony to the committee. Waitt offered limited new facts that reshape the public understanding of the case. but he did appear to contradict portions of Maxwell’s earlier statements.. Last year, Maxwell gave nine hours of interviews over two days to then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.. In those interviews. Maxwell claimed her relationship with Waitt ended after he was blackmailed for $10 million. in exchange for dropping mention of her from a series of civil lawsuits filed against Epstein.
Waitt told the committee that did not happen.
He also described why he gave Maxwell money after they broke up. Waitt said he paid her $7.2 million because “wanted to help her continue to live her life at the level she was accustomed to.”
In the transcript. he said he believed she was devastated by the breakup and handled the final arrangements through his team rather than directly.. “I think someone on my staff might have said she was very unhappy with the breakup and she was not in a good state. ” he said. adding that he did not want to get directly involved.. Waitt acknowledged she wanted more money, but said that “doesn’t matter.”
He later told lawmakers he regretted the decision in hindsight. “I just felt it was the right thing to do, not uncommon for people in my situation to do that,” Waitt said. “We lived a fairly extravagant life. In hindsight, if I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t have done it.”
Waitt also described the relationship itself, telling the committee he met Maxwell during a large dinner in Hong Kong that included Bill Clinton, Epstein, and others. He said he started seriously dating Maxwell in 2004 and that their relationship ended after six years.
He told lawmakers he rarely interacted with Epstein, estimating it as fewer than five times. Waitt said Maxwell described Epstein as a “brilliant investor, money manager,” and told the committee he was uneasy about Epstein’s influence in Maxwell’s life.
“He did seem to have significant influence over her, she did always kind of look up to him, and I was not comfortable with that,” Waitt said in the transcript.
The House Oversight Committee is conducting closed-door, transcribed interviews with Waitt and others as it investigates convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Ghislaine Maxwell Ted Waitt House Oversight Committee Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case Todd Blanche
so he just handed her 7 million and we supposed to believe he knew nothing lol ok
Wait I thought Gateway computers went out of business like in the 90s or something, why does this guy still have money. Also 7 million dollars is insane like who just pays that after a breakup that is not normal behavior at all and nobody is talking about that part.
This whole thing honestly just reminds me of how the rich protect each other no matter what and then they come out years later acting all shocked and saying they regret it but only AFTER she got convicted and locked up, funny how that works right. Like where was all this regret in 2008 when Epstein literally pleaded guilty and this man says he wishes he looked into it more, he had every resource in the world to look into it he just didnt want to know. Billionaires dont accidentally stay friends with traffickers they just dont care until cameras are pointed at them. And the article doesnt even finish the sentence about why he paid her the 7.2 million which is honestly the most important part of this whole story and they just cut it off.
didnt maxwell already get released or am i thinking of someone else