Multi-millionaire sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein introduced Kimbal Musk, Elon's brother, to a woman in his entourage, two sources tell Business Insider.

The woman, who had previously dated Epstein and lived in an apartment building where he was known to house models, dated Kimbal Musk from 2011 to 2012.

Though the relationship was by all accounts genuine, the sources say Epstein hoped it would open doors to Elon Musk and his companies.

Epstein and his entourage were granted a private tour of Musk's SpaceX facility in Hawthorne, California, in 2012.

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Jeffrey Epstein was in regular contact with Elon's brother Kimbal Musk, the tech millionaire turned restaurateur who serves on the boards of his older brother's companies Tesla and SpaceX, a Business Insider investigation has found.

It's unclear how Epstein and Kimbal Musk met initially, but they saw each other occasionally because Kimbal was dating a woman in Epstein's entourage at the time, the people said. The woman had previously dated Epstein himself, and lived in an apartment building that Epstein's brother owned and which Epstein had used to house people close to him, including models from Eastern Europe.

The couple, who dated from 2011 to 2012, was set up by Epstein himself, the sources said. Their relationship brought Epstein into contact with the Musk family and their businesses, and highlights how the convicted pedophile may have used the women in his inner circle to develop strategic relationships with prominent people in the world of tech and business.

"It almost seemed a little more transactional," said one source familiar with the couple. "The rumour has always been that Epstein facilitated introductions to beautiful women, looking for deal flow or access to capital. And the provenance of [Kimbal Musk's relationship to the woman] was right down the path of that."

Update: On July 6, more than six months after this story was published and more than six months after SpaceX did not respond to our request for comment, a SpaceX attorney wrote to Business Insider claiming that "Mr. Epstein did not tour the SpaceX facilities in 2012 or at any other time." The letter came two days after a Twitter user asked Musk about the Epstein visit and Musk replied, "to the best our knowledge, he never toured SpaceX. Don't know where that comes from."

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