Caisse pauses new DP World ventures after Epstein emails emerge
Event date: 2026-02-10
Quebec’s Caisse de dépôt et placement has paused new partnerships with DP World after the release of emails showing years of contact between the logistics company’s chief executive and Jeffrey Epstein.
The Gazette reported that the pension fund wants clarification from DP World over the conduct of Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem and will not deploy additional capital alongside the company until it gets answers. The Caisse said it expects the company to “shed full light on the situation” and take necessary action.
The background matters because the Caisse is not a small investor. The report says it has at least $6 billion tied up in joint ventures managed by DP World, making it one of the company’s largest partners. That means any freeze on new commitments is likely to carry real weight even if existing investments remain in place.
The trigger for the move was a trove of roughly 3 million files released by the US Department of Justice. Those materials reportedly show that bin Sulayem corresponded with Epstein for more than a decade after Epstein’s 2008 conviction. Some of the messages, the report says, refer to sexual encounters and to efforts to arrange in-person meetings.
DP World is a major global port and logistics operator with a network spanning more than 60 ports and terminals across roughly 40 countries. Bin Sulayem, who became chairman in 2007 and group chairman and CEO in 2016, is described in the report as a central figure in that operation. The scale of the company is one reason the reputational fallout matters well beyond the immediate relationship with the Caisse.
The report also notes that US Rep. Thomas Massie said bin Sulayem was the recipient of an email from Epstein referring to a “torture video”, although that detail had initially been redacted in court filings. That deepens the reputational pressure but remains part of the same broader thread: the newly released files have forced new scrutiny on Epstein’s network and on the people who stayed in contact with him.
For now, the Caisse’s action is a pause rather than a full break. Its exposure comes through joint ventures in port and logistics infrastructure, not as a shareholder in DP World’s parent company. Even so, the message from Montreal is plain. The fund is not willing to expand its relationship while unanswered questions remain about the chief executive’s conduct.
The article in the packet does not show whether other investors will follow suit or whether DP World will respond publicly. But it does establish that a major public pension fund is now treating the Epstein-linked revelations as a governance issue serious enough to interrupt new investment plans.
Claim-to-source map - The Caisse has paused new partnerships with DP World after emails surfaced: source 9854 - The pension fund has at least $6 billion tied up in DP World-managed joint ventures: source 9854 - The DOJ released around 3 million Epstein files that show long contact with Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem: source 9854 - The Caisse is seeking clarification before deploying more capital: source 9854
