A U.S. Justice Department release tied to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation has unexpectedly pulled back the curtain on “family offices”—the private, often home-office-style investment operations used by many of the world’s wealthiest families to run money, manage estate planning, and handle personal-security needs, Bloomberg reported.

Roughly 40,000 Deutsche Bank AG documents appeared in the government’s broader “Epstein Files” data dump, exposing client profiles and other internal materials that name or describe well-heeled families’ private wealth-management setups. Many of those drawn into the disclosures were swept up not because of any connection to Epstein’s criminal conduct but because they shared the same private banker, Bloomberg said. 

The release has triggered anxiety among those identified in Deutsche Bank files because sensitive details, including bank account numbers, became public despite expectations of strict confidentiality. The DOJ has faced criticism for redacting some records heavily while failing to protect other sensitive material, including names and images of Epstein’s victims, according to Bloomberg.

Public exposure is an exception for family offices, which typically operate out of view unless information emerges via litigation, regulatory filings, or disputes. 

The unusual visibility matters because third-party documentation can reveal how these “home offices” allocate capital, staff their operations, and even air internal disagreements that normally stay inside private meetings, Bloomberg quoted family-business strategist Martin Roll as saying.

Some of the most detailed material reviewed by news agency involved the Wanek family, owners of Ashley Furniture Industries, through a Deutsche Bank client profile on their family office, Third Lake Capital.

The 2018 document described return expectations as often “unrealistic,” and referenced internal debate over raising equity exposure, Bloomberg reported. A representative for the Waneks declined to comment, and the family is not accused of wrongdoing.

The disclosures land as family offices proliferate and expand into venture capital, real estate, and buyouts, while generally avoiding the disclosure rules that apply to large institutional investors, according to the report At least a fifth of the 500 richest people tracked by Bloomberg now have a family office overseeing fortunes totaling more than $5 trillion.

Read more at Bloomberg