Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch, located near Stanley in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, was the largest of his properties by land area — spanning approximately 8,000 acres — and among the least publicly examined during his lifetime.
Epstein acquired the ranch in the early 1990s and developed it extensively, including a main residence, guesthouse, and its own airstrip. The property’s remoteness made it functionally unobservable and provided an ideal setting for private gatherings away from urban scrutiny.
Scientific gatherings at Zorro Ranch became a feature of Epstein’s philanthropy strategy. Researchers and academics were flown in on his aircraft for multi-day colloquia where Epstein presented himself as a visionary patron of science. These events served dual purposes: they genuinely exposed prominent scientists to each other in productive ways, and they accumulated the network relationships that constituted Epstein’s social capital.
The ranch was also the location most associated with Epstein’s reported eugenics aspirations. A 2019 New York Times investigation described conversations in which Epstein had discussed the property as a potential site for a genetic legacy project — statements attributed to him by multiple attendees at his social gatherings.
New Mexico state investigators became interested in potential criminal conduct at the ranch following Epstein’s 2019 arrest. Questions were raised about whether any of his trafficking activity had occurred at the New Mexico property. The investigation did not result in state charges before Epstein’s death in August 2019.