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Global Counsel, the advisory firm founded by Lord Peter Mandelson, is telling clients it is in the advanced stages of selling its remaining stake as it attempts to cut ties with the peer.
Mandelson has been the subject of revelations that he passed confidential government information to the late Jeffrey Epstein and was sent massive payments from the convicted sex offender.
Mandelson founded Global Counsel with Benjamin Weg-Prosser in 2010 and still holds a 21 percent stake. He stepped down as chairman in 2024 and ceased advising the firm when he was appointed Britain’s Ambassador to the US at the end of that year.
People familiar with the situation said clients had been assured that Mandelson’s divestment process was in an advanced stage, after the company told them in September it was cutting ties with them. He said it could be finalized in a few days or weeks.
Two other people close to the Global Council countered that the Mandelson divestment process was complex and had already dragged on longer than anticipated.
The deterioration in relations between Weg-Prosser and US investor Jim Messina, partly due to the Mandelson scandal, has prompted Messina to initiate a separate process to exit his 20 percent stake in Global Council, according to people with knowledge of the situation. According to Companies House, a new outside investor could reduce Weg-Prosser’s influence on the firm he founded and still owns between 25 and 50 percent.
The Global Council, which provides prestigious advice, lobbying and geopolitical insight to multinationals, has been trying to distance itself from Mandelson since emails surfaced in September that revealed how he urged Epstein to “fight for an early release” after he was accused of soliciting a minor.
However, the firm’s name appears in a large number of emails sent by Mandelson to Epstein that were released by the US Justice Department in recent days because they were sent from his Global Council email address.
The emails show that Mandelson sought advice from Epstein on how to structure a potential deal to sell Global Counsel to Lazard, the boutique investment bank in which Mandelson was also a senior adviser at the time.
On January 11, 2012, Mandelson emailed Weg-Prosser, saying, “JE (Jeffrey Epstein) suggests Lazard SD (sic) buy less than 50% now with an obligation to buy the rest in less than 5 years using a formula to be determined today.”
“That’s basically the plan. We have a draft term sheet,” Wegg-Prosser responded. He then asked Mandelson to ask Epstein “what is his view on the price” and included figures such as “2 million in revenue, 600k profit, 30% margin – budget already reached Q1 target”.
Mandelson forwarded the email to Epstein, with the line “What do you think?” – to which the disgraced financier replied “It should be earning 8 to 12”.
A person familiar with the Global Council said Wegh-Prosser was not seeking Epstein’s views and was not in direct communication, but was instead trying to understand the full context of the discussion with its chairman. A potential deal between Lazard and the Global Council could not be completed.
Mandelson was a senior advisor to Lazard in 2011 before being named president of the international branch in 2012. He ceased any involvement with Lazard in 2022. Mandelson was reportedly introduced to Lazard by his friend Nat Rothschild, who worked for the bank in the mid-1990s.
A person close to the company said Rothschild had expressed interest in an offer to buy Mandelson’s stake in Global Council since September, but Rothschild declined to comment and there was no suggestion he had live discussions with them.
Two people familiar with the situation said such an effort by Rothschild would have been blocked by the Global Council’s board because of Rothschild’s past well-known ties to Mandelson and the board’s desire to completely sever all ties to Mandelson.
Further emails show Wegh-Prosser forwarding messages from Mendelson directly to Epstein, including a statement drafted by a co-worker concerning her relationship with the sex offender. A person close to the Global Council stressed that Weg-Prosser was not providing guidance to Epstein. Another email shows WegProsser requesting Epstein’s mobile number to provide access to password-protected documents.
On Christmas Day 2010, Epstein emailed Mandelson saying “Lazard will help me and the Global Council’s brand”.
The same day Mandelson, who was Britain’s Business Secretary at the time, suggested Epstein encouraged JPMorgan’s boss to make a “mild threat” to Chancellor Alistair Darling over the banker bonus tax. JPMorgan remains a client of the Global Council for its geopolitical insights.
Additional reporting by Joe Miller in Washington
