Convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who died in an apparent suicide over the weekend, once said he wanted to become a minister so his acquaintances would open up to him about their secrets.

Last year Epstein met with New York Times columnist James Stewart, who wanted to talk about whether the multimillionaire was advising Tesla chief executive Elon Musk.

Tesla denies seeking Epstein's help, but Epstein told Stewart that he was considered "radioactive," and Tesla would deny that he had given advice if it ever became public.

"He said this was something he’d become used to, even though it didn’t stop people from visiting him, coming to his dinner parties or asking him for money. (That was why, Mr. Epstein told me without any trace of irony, he was considering becoming a minister so that his acquaintances would be confident that their conversations would be kept confidential.)," Stewart wrote.

Epstein said he knew the dark secrets of a lot of rich and powerful people, including the sexual proclivities and drug use of tech leaders, according to Stewart.

Stewart said this 90-minute conversation, which took place at Epstein's Manhattan mansion, was on background and therefore could not be attributed to Epstein. Stewart said he determined that condition to have expired with Epstein's death in a Manhattan prison cell.