Did Epstein win the lottery?

• A trust called Zorro Trust won the Powerball in 2008, securing an $85-million jackpot
• It is known through New Mexico public records that a Zorro Trust trust in which Epstein was a trustee, purchased the Zorro Ranch in 1993
• The two Zorro Trusts may not be connected as legal entities, but speculation continues

The name of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein is often linked to numerous conspiracy theories, and not always without reason, given the extensive scrutiny surrounding his life and connections. Yet a new claim circulating online insists that he might have actually won the Powerball in 2008 through a trust, or at least be loosely associated with the win.

A viral (but unreliable) post has revived the idea that Epstein was connected to an $85 million jackpot drawn on July 2, 2008, with some users pointing to alleged trust records and coincidental naming patterns as possible evidence. The claim has spread widely across social media, particularly on X, where reposts and AI-generated summaries have amplified it.

What do we know about Epstein’s lottery win?

There is no verified, definitive evidence that Epstein actually won the lottery, bar a few social media posts and publications that have cottoned onto the rumor in the first place. A claim shared on social media X insists that the now-deceased convicted criminal was associated with or benefited from an entity called Zorro Trust. An entity of the same name collected an $85-million payday from the Powerball draw on July 2, 2008.

But here’s the rub. The record of Epstein specifically owning Zorro Trust is not clear, although the name of the trust does show in records connected to his case, and public records do show him as a trustee. The other issue is that the Zorro Trust in New Mexico (where Epstein was a trustee and purchased a major property) and the Zorro Trust in Oklahoma, which collected the lottery prize, may not be related.

The ownership structure of the trust remains unclear, and associations between the convicted criminal and the trust in the sense that he used it to win the Powerball are still unconfirmed.

Media links Zorro Trust’s name to Epstein

Few serious media outlets have mulled over the idea of Epstein winning the 2008 Powerball, and it is natural, given the extensive crimes committed by the magnate, who trafficked young girls and created a globe-spanning ring.

However, some reports now tie Epstein’s name to Zorro Trust in New Mexico, which is coincidentially the name of a trust used to claim the Oklahoma Powerball jackpot in 2008.

In February 2026, The Guardian, a British media outlet, specifically wrote that Zorro Trust was one of the entities Epstein used to make purchases. The exact media reporting focused on the acquisition of a secluded property in New Mexico in 1993, known as Zorro Ranch. The purchase of the ranch also came with 1,200 acres of state land, as per the public records obtained and shared by the publication.

Was the Zorro Trust in New Mexico the same legal entity as the Zorro Trust in Oklahoma?

Zorro Ranch was allegedly a place where some of Epstein’s connections frequented, among whom are late linguist Noam Chomsky, filmmaker Woody Allen, and modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel. Zorro Trust later became known as Cypress, Inc, as confirmed by The Guardian.

How much did Epstein supposedly win from the lottery?

$85 million. The July 2, 2008, Powerball draw saw a jackpot of $85 million awarded to one Zorro Trust entity, which is a publicly confirmed fact, as per media reports. Another outlet, the Oklahoma Daily, also confirmed this in reporting, so at least the sources at the time suggest, correctly, that an entity called Zorro Trust was involved in collecting the prize.

The winning numbers at the time were4, 33, 46, 48, 52, and 17 as the red Powerball, with the one-time cash option standing at $41.3 million. The trust opted for the lump sum in the end, and took a further reduced cut of $29.3 million after all applicable taxes. The ticket was purchased at a Stripes convenience store in Altus, Oklahoma.

One important detail, however, is that under legislative changes from 2007, the names of the trust members must be disclosed to the Oklahoma Lottery Commission, which conducts checks to see if any taxes or child support payments are owed.

Why can’t we still claim Epstein won the lottery in 2008?

The reason for this is quite simple. While there are public records showing Zorro Trust collected the prize, the lottery itself never confirmed the fact that Epstein benefited from the Powerball. But here is the question - was the Zorro Trust in New Mexico the same legal entity as the Zorro Trust in Oklahoma?

At best, we could say that a trust he was a trustee in might have secured the Powerball win, based on what records we have. Furthermore, Epstein is not specifically named as the owner of Zorro Trust, but rather as a trustee based on the records from the New Mexico State Land Office.

While rumors have swirled that the Department of Justice released documents confirming that "Epstein’s trust" won the 2008 draw, we could not independently find and verify those documents, nor has there been any confirmation by the DoJ on the Epstein Library as of the time of writing this article.

The case remains speculative, as investigators probe Epstein’s criminal history, which has enmeshed some of the world’s elites and disillusioned ordinary people across the globe.

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