Ghislaine Maxwell's love life: From Epstein to Ted Waitt, disgraced socialite has history of dating rich men
British socialite and heiress Ghislaine Maxwell, who became a confidante of billionaire pedophile and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and was accused of being complicit in his sex crimes, is now facing more allegations. While she has been hailed as Epstein's "main girlfriend", he was not the only man she dated in the past.
Recent news reports revealed that in an indictment that was filed on Monday, a fourth "unidentified minor victim" was added to the case by Manhattan federal prosecutors. The indictment revealed that the victim had given Epstein "nude massages" at his Palm Beach residence in Florida. He had reportedly also "engaged in sex acts" with her.
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In a separate case, a Turkish woman, whose name has not been released, has accused Epstein and Maxwell of rape and trafficking that occurred in 2008. The woman, who is a real estate agent, alleges that Epstein raped her while Maxwell helped. The woman claims that the sexual abuse took place in front of her son, who was 8 years old at the time. She was threatened that if she ever revealed the crimes, "she would be fed to alligators", as per a new lawsuit.
Maxwell was arrested in New Hampshire in July last year. Maxwell has been accused of recruiting and grooming girls for Epstein in a previous indictment, but she now faces trafficking charges as well. Maxwell has been linked to an array of high-profile men in the past, including billionaires and tech moguls. Here's a look:
Count Gianfranco Cicogna
After the death of her father in 1991, Ghislaine was in an emotionally vulnerable state when she started a long, passionate affair with Italian aristocrat and millionaire Count Gianfranco Cicogna, the dashing scion that owned the Ciga Hotels chain. Though she had hoped to one day be his contessa, the affair ended on a bitter note.
The only other information about Cigogna is that he was sometimes a stunt pilot who died in a plane crash in 2012.
Jeffrey Epstein
Epstein was an American financier and convicted sex offender. He began his professional life as a teacher but then switched to the banking and finance sector in various roles, working at Bear Stearns before forming his own firm. He developed an elite social circle and procured many women and children who were then sexually abused by him and his contacts.
Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal charges of exploiting dozens of underage girls in New York and Florida in the early 2000s. He died under mysterious circumstances while in custody in early August. One day before his death, a federal appeals court had released the transcript of a 2016 deposition where the billionaire pedophile refused to answer whether Maxwell procured girls for him.
After Maxwell moved to New York, she began her relationship with Epstein. Although little is known about their relationship, Conchita Sarnoff, a former acquaintance of Maxwell and Epstein revealed in a documentary that she was quite taken by him. "I didn't see Epstein in love with Ghislaine at all but I did sense that Ghislaine loved Epstein," Sarnoff has revealed in Reelz' 'Jeffrey Epstein & Prince Andrew: The True Story'. Maxwell took their relationship quite seriously too, she said. "Ghislaine actually told me that she had wanted to marry Epstein. I know directly from her that she was in love."
Sarnoff further added, "She was totally unprotected after her father passed away and Epstein came to her rescue so I think Ghislaine saw Epstein as a father figure in a way. It seemed like there wasn't any physical warmth between them," she said. Maxwell remained associated with Epstein for many years even after their romantic relationship ended. In a 2009 deposition, Epstein's household employees testified that Maxwell was Epstein's "main girlfriend" and a major part of his public and private life.
Ted Waitt
Following her personal and professional involvement with Epstein, Maxwell was romantically linked for several years to Ted Waitt, founder of Gateway Computers. She attended the wedding of Chelsea Clinton in 2010 as Waitt's guest. Maxwell helped Waitt obtain and renovate a luxury yacht, the Plan B, and used it for travel to France and Croatia before their relationship ended, in late 2010 or early 2011. Not much is known about their relationship.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Waitt is an American businessman and philanthropist who has a net worth of $800 million. In 1998, at the peak of his success and the dot-com bubble, Ted was a multi-billionaire with a paper net worth of $4 billion. His net worth crashed as the dotcom bubble burst, with Gateway experiencing greater competition from companies like Apple and Dell. In 2002 he sold $1.1 billion in Gateway stock and the company was acquired by Acer Inc. in 2007 for $710 million.
Scott Borgerson
On 15 August 2019, reports surfaced that Maxwell had been living in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, at the home of Scott Borgerson, who in October 2020, due to the publicity surrounding Maxwell, stepped down as CEO of CargoMetrics, a hedge fund investment company involved in maritime data analytics.
Maxwell and Borgerson were described as having been in a romantic relationship for several years. A neighboring property manager attested that Maxwell and Borgerson were living together at the property in question. Others have said they had been seen running together in the mornings frequently.
Borgerson stated in August 2019 that Maxwell was not currently living at the home and that he did not know where she was. He told New York Post, “It’s pretty crazy, all of this just exploded. People keep asking me, but I am not dating Ghislaine, I’m home alone with my cat.” Scott had also said, “If you want to write a longer article. I’m passionate about ocean policy and I wish people were as interested in Jones Act reform, joining the law of the sea, and funding icebreakers. On this, I’m your guy.”
At the time of her arraignment, federal prosecutors stated that Maxwell was married; she did not disclose the identity of her spouse (or their respective finances). In December 2020, it emerged that she had married Borgerson in 2016. According to a report in The Times, Maxwell transferred assets worth $20 million to Borgerson soon after their alleged marriage in 2016. Reports have also attributed Maxwell's bail application in Manhattan on December 14 to him. Borgerson, in a letter to the courts, said that she is a “wonderful and loving person” as he laid out a $28.5 million bail package that included $8 million in property, and $500,000 in cash.
Maxwell’s lawyers have stated in a motion filed on December 23 that Maxwell discussed divorce with her husband prior to her July 2020 arrest in order to “protect” him from “being associated with her.” As reported by the New York Post, “Ms. Maxwell and her spouse had discussed the idea of getting a divorce as an additional way to get distance between [them] to protect him (redacted) from the terrible consequences of being associated with her,” the filing states.