A $22bn (£16bn) London hedge fund has “terminated” talks with Peter Mandelson over an advisory role after emails revealed that the former UK business secretary may have leaked sensitive government information to the child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Rokos Capital Management (RCM), which is run by the financier Chris Rokos, had been in discussions to hire Mandelson, who had been searching for a new role after being sacked as the UK’s ambassador to the US in September following pressure over his ties to Epstein.
However, Mandelson resigned from the Labour party on Sunday, after the US Department of Justice released millions of additional documents that shed new light on the extent of his relationship with Epstein.
Those emails not only showed the extent to which Mandelson stayed in contact with Epstein after Epstein’s first prison sentence for child sex offences in 2008, but also that in 2009 he apparently forwarded to Epstein highly sensitive information he had received as business secretary under Gordon Brown, including government responses to the global financial crisis.
The Metropolitan police have launched a criminal investigation into Mandelson over allegations he leaked market-sensitive emails to Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial over child sex trafficking charges.
Mandelson stepped down from the House of Lords on Tuesday.
The hedge fund said: “RCM works with many consultants. We were in discussion with Peter Mandelson about adding him to our deep bench of consultants, but following the recent revelations on Friday, all such discussions were immediately terminated.”
He had previously been paid for advisory work for Rokos, including in 2024 and 2025, according to the register of commercial and financial interests for members of the House of Lords.
Mandelson told the Financial Times, which first reported the recent discussions had ended, that he had not worked at the hedge fund since he took the role as US ambassador, in February 2025. “I advised Rokos before becoming ambassador. We have not had any relationship since I was appointed as ambassador,” he said.
Chris Rokos is among the UK’s biggest taxpayers and, according to last year’s Sunday Times rich list, he is estimated to be worth £2.6bn. The 55-year-old billionaire is known for his role as a bond trader, having started his career at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse before co-founding the hedge fund Brevan Howard.
He launched RCM, which employs more than 350 people, in 2015, making a further name for himself in the finance world. He recently made headlines for embarking on the most expensive home renovation in England, after buying the 200-room Tottenham House, a 18th-century mansion in Wiltshire.
Mandelson was contacted for comment.
