Hermès International SA CEO Axel Dumas stated on Thursday that he had repeatedly declined meeting requests from Jeffrey Epstein, describing himself as a target of the "financial predator" who approached the luxury brand during a takeover battle. Dumas told reporters, "I believe we were targeted at the time. I was a young CEO then, and we were in the midst of the LVMH situation. He was a financial predator. He already had a reprehensible reputation."

Recently released documents by the U.S. Department of Justice revealed that Epstein contacted Dumas’s assistant multiple times via email in 2013 and 2014, seeking a meeting with the CEO. Epstein also reached out to the luxury brand requesting interior design services for his private jet, but Hermès declined the proposal.

Dumas mentioned that he met Epstein only once, in March 2013, during an event at a Hermès workshop. He added that Epstein was not on the guest list but appeared at the event alongside renowned Hollywood director Woody Allen and his wife. "After that, he tried to meet with me three times, and each time I refused," Dumas said. "I cannot recall exactly how much we knew about him at the time, as it’s difficult to remember details from 13 years ago, but he was already notorious."

Emails disclosed in the Justice Department files indicate that Epstein attempted to arrange a meeting in January 2014 with Dumas and Ariane de Rothschild, head of the Edmond de Rothschild private banking group. The correspondence shows that Dumas’s assistant, Elodie Brisebarre, politely declined Epstein’s invitations in November 2013 and January 2014, citing "prior commitments" and an "extremely tight schedule."

In one email, Epstein wrote to an undisclosed recipient, "Locate Axel Dumas at Hermès’s Paris headquarters."