Jeffrey Epstein planned a ‘baby ranch’ to spread his DNA, but the idea was never implemented, report says

Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy financier accused of sex trafficking, harboured a disturbing ambition: to spread his DNA by impregnating women at his sprawling New Mexico ranch, according to multiple people familiar with his thinking, The New York Times reported.

Epstein confided his plan to scientists and business figures over several years, though there is no evidence it was ever carried out, the news outlet stated.

The idea was rooted in Epstein’s fascination with transhumanism — a movement that seeks to improve humanity through genetic engineering and advanced technologies — a field critics have compared to modern-day eugenics.

Prominent figures linked to Epstein included Nobel laureates Murray Gell-Mann and Frank Wilczek, physicist Stephen Hawking, neurologist Oliver Sacks, evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould and Harvard geneticist George Church.

Some scientists acknowledged that the lure of funding blinded them to the seriousness of Epstein’s criminal behaviour.

One adviser said Epstein openly discussed the plan at gatherings at his Manhattan townhouse, while another scientist recalled hearing it at a 2006 conference in St. Thomas.

The plan reportedly envisioned having up to 20 women pregnant at a time. Though deeply unsettling, there is no indication the idea was illegal.

A scientist at one dinner told Lanier that Epstein’s concept was inspired by the now-defunct Repository for Germinal Choice, a sperm bank aimed at strengthening the human gene pool.

Epstein was charged in July with sex trafficking involving girls as young as 14. He pleaded not guilty.